Navigating multiple identities like being queer and a Korean adoptee has been interesting, says Shawyn Lee, 41. “We’re quick to throw people in boxes,” says the Hermantown, Minn., resident. But the labels aren’t always accurate and don’t allow people full visibility. In this episode, Lee talks about the complexity of identity, relationships, owning up to your truths and why adoptee voices matter.
Music under license with Blue Dot Sessions.
Emma Wexler, 22, is a Vietnamese adoptee who grew up influenced by the experiences and writings of Korean adoptees. She has thought a lot about identity and race, intercountry adoption and privilege, socio-economics, race and child displacement. The future medical school student has always felt different – from being raised by a single white woman within the Jewish faith, as an Asian-American adoptee not particularly connected to Vietnamese culture, and as an adoptee who was outside of the more dominant Korean adoptee community. Now, she hopes those spaces can also make room for adoptees from other countries to be part of the collective voices.
Music appears by license with Blue Dot Sessions.
Korean adoptee Mila Konomos, 44, has spent a lifetime pondering the meaning of family, first as an adopted child to white American parents stationed on military bases in places such as Japan and the Philippines, later meeting her biological Korean parents to becoming a mother to biracial children in the U.S. But neither her adoption nor reunion with bio family has brought her a sense of wholeness. Now a performance artist, social and racial justice rights activist, partner and mother, this episode explores how Konomos’ life experiences has shaped who she is today.
Music appears under license with Blue Dot Sessions.
Son of a Korean haenyo, the storied female free divers, and a single mother, adoptee Ben Coz, 30, also plunges depths in adoption activism in Korea. You’ll hear how his politics are inextricably linked to his personal life, and how early trauma and loss has influenced his call to action.
Blue Dot Sessions music used under license.
“Scandinavian Scandals”, “1.5iterations” and “Hell Joseon” by permission of Ben Coz.
“U, Black Maybe” by Common appears under fair use, courtesy of Geffen Records.
“My Downfall” and “The First Time I Laid Eyes” by Audiobinger.
What do you do when you become an adopted parent’s caregiver and there might be unresolved issues related to your childhood and adoption? Sarah MeeRan Cave, 33, a Korean adoptee and an accomplished violinist, composer, and teacher, talks about caring for an aging parent, her relationship with the violin and teachers along the way, and what it’s all ultimately taught her about her own path to healing.
Music by license with Blue Dot Sessions.
“The Mother,” “Sonata Duet for Violin and Cello, op.1” and “Maya” (by Shakti with new arrangement),” appears courtesy of Sarah MeeRan Cave.
Sharon Jung, 37, is on a redemptive journey. Adopted from Korea at the age of four, Jung, along with her twin sister, would learn devastating details about the separation from their first family and what the adoption agency did to make that happen. It ultimately led them down a path to the wrong family. Jung also experienced abuse and mistreatment in her adoptive family, which spiraled into despair and drug abuse. But through it all, Jung’s story is about finding how to love even when you feel unworthy of it, and of how her twin never gave up on her.
Note: This episode includes mentions of child sexual abuse, drug abuse, self-harm and rape.
Music appears by license with Blue Dot Sessions
Tupac Shakur appears under fair use courtesy of Entertainment One.
Logo: Rusty Detty
Taneka Hye Wol Jennings, 34, works towards social justice and immigrant rights as the deputy director of Hana Center in Chicago, Ill. She also uses that passion to advocate for the Korean adoptee community through organizations like KAtCH in Chicago and others. Listen as Jennings steps out of her comfort zone to share some of her reflections as an adoptee, daughter and partner.
Music by license with Blue Dot Sessions / Logo by Rusty Detty
This week marks the release of “All You Can Ever Know” by Nicole Chung on paperback. Chung, 38, sat down for an interview earlier this year during the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network conference, where she gave the keynote. Her book, published by Catapult, is a memoir of growing up as a Korean transracial adoptee and navigating the complexities around race, identity and family, and is widely celebrated for its honesty and observations from the adopted person’s point of view. A writer and editor, Chung reflects about her book and of finding a place within the wider Korean adoptee community.
Music by license with Blue Dot Sessions
Audio reading of “All You Can Ever Know” courtesy of Audible
Logo by Rusty Detty
LA-based filmmaker and Korean adoptee Jon Maxwell had once struggled to put a lens to his own adoption story in a way that felt satisfying. But he found that by helping to tell the stories of other adoptees, his own came more into frame. Listen as Maxwell, 39, shares his own story about adoption, career and fatherhood.
Music by license with Blue Dot Sessions/
Logo by Rusty Detty/
“aka Dan” appears with permission of Dan Matthews/ISA TV
Photo by Ajarina Hitomi
What do you do when your adoption agency stonewalls and lies to you? Greg Monroe, 27, of Ann Arbor, Mich., didn’t give up his search and after many trips to Korea and hard conversations with Holt Korea 홀트아동복지회, he was able to reunite with his birth family. But the reunion didn’t come with rough parts, for himself and for all those he cares about. He shares what it’s like to slowly become a stranger’s son.
Music: Under license with Blue Dot Sessions
Logo: Rusty Detty
