Adoptees who visited Korea
Anna (Anna Elisabeth Yisun Halsett Elbebraten), who participated in the 2023 World Korean Adoption Convention, was adopted to Sweden with her twin sister six months after being born in Korea in February 1974.
They were the only children of their adoptive parents. Her adoptive parents loved them. Anna, she recalled, “was able to spend her happy childhood in a loving, harmonious family.”
I didn’t even think about finding my roots. He tried to be as Swedish as possible. It was nothing more and nothing less. He had a normal school life like other children. He studied hard and traveled.
I met my husband while traveling in New Zealand, and after graduating from university, I have been working as a kindergarten teacher in New Zealand. She had one daughter and one son.
After becoming a mother, I thought of my biological parents. How did the parents feel as they sent their newborn baby away to a remote place? It was ‘love’. A love that hopes to grow up in a good environment and a good family. This is Anna’s conclusion. Anna said, “When I meet her biological parents, I want to tell them that she ‘lived happily ever after.’”
The 2023 World Korean Adoption Conference was a new opportunity for her. She is curious about Korea. I want to know what kind of country Korea is, what kind of culture and history it has, and how Korean people live. She even imagined what life would have been like in Korea if she had not been adopted.
Although this is my first time visiting Korea, I decided to get to know it little by little. She also planned to visit Korea again soon with her husband and adoptive parents.
The family of Laurent Dumoulin (right), who visited Korea for the first time with his French adoptive parents, is posing with the Korean national flag.Laurent Dumoulin was appointed as the next president of ‘Korean Roots,’ the oldest adoptive Korean adoptee organization in France. Born in 1982, he was adopted to France when he was 4 months old. From a young age, his parents shared adoption documents with him, but he did not know much about Korean culture or other information.
When I was 28, I participated in a Korean travel program for adopted Koreans. He went to Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do and met many family members and relatives, including his biological parents, uncle, sister, and grandmother. We also went to a restaurant run by her family.
He expressed his feelings when he first met his biological mother as “very touching.” It was a strange feeling that couldn’t be described with specific words, but it was definitely touching.
His adoptive parents also visited Korea on the occasion of the 2023 World Korean Adoption Convention. Traveling to Korea with his adoptive parents was his greatest wish. We hope this will be an opportunity for adoptive parents to learn about their roots.
‘Korean Roots’, where he has been volunteering for a long time, shares various information and experiences with adopted compatriots. It is also important to build relationships between adopted compatriots so that they know that ‘we have one big family.’ He also actively participates in programs run by the Korean government and various organizations to help people achieve self-development between their adopted and birth countries.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.