A number of recent news items are focusing on Korean-born adoptees and their reconnections with birth country and family.

Some stories have been put on film, like this one reported on in Stars and Stripes about an adoptee's search that led to his birth father.

Former Army Staff Sgt. Aaron Bates was adopted by an American family who eventually adopted three other South Korean children and supported their son in his search and reconciliation.

Unfortunately, the birth father is in prison, on death row for the murder of two women, but the circumstance might have something... more

With apologies for not reporting on this well in advance, but with hopes that this post will allow for some advance planning for next year's events, here's a bit on the 2007 International Korean Adoptee Association's Gathering that took place during the week of July 31st- August 5th in Seoul, South Korea.

The fourth Gathering since the first was held in Washington D.C. in 1999, this year's event brought together some 650 to 700 adoptees with the aim of "... demonstrating that the global community... more

With so much to write about ... so much news, so little time ... I'm popping over here from the Adoption News Blog to post about some Korean adoption-flavored stories.

Starting with this one on an unexpected reunion with birth family.

Nineteen-year-old Korean-born adoptee Robin Gellinger and her mom took a trip to South Korea to see her birthplace... more

I was checking out Adopting From Korea - Mom Blog & Rant and I was happy to see that she’s back. Her latest post had an article from Interfaith Family that I enjoyed and thought I’d pass it on. The article is called Challah and Rice Cakes and it’s about introducing their new Korean adoptee to the Jewish faith.

The article talks about the Jewish custom that would give their Korean adoptee her Hebrew name and then their celebration of her Korean tol (first birthday) the next day. I did not celebrate... more

Here are some sites that have interesting Korean items that you can buy for your adoptees. I can just see my mother right now sighing in frustration. When my sister and I were little, you just couldn’t find things like this…now they are everywhere.

Adoption Shop - This site is run by the same people as adoptionblogs.com. They have books, art, toys, videos, etc… It’s like one stop shopping.

Korean Raggedy - I like these. It’s probably because I liked Raggedy Ann so much when I was little. A Korean Raggedy Ann has to be better... more

This article in the phillyburbs.com kept popping up recently so I decided that I was supposed to write about it. The article is all about Verispan LLC. Verispan offers its employees an adoption benefit package and there is a short section about one of the families who used the benefit when adopting two children from Korea.

I was reading the article and I was thinking about how nice it would be if more companies came on board. I suspect that adoption benefits will continue to grow, but unfortunately it is growing slowly. While FMLA makes it possible for many parents to take the time... more

When my son came, it was a nice bonus that he automatically became a citizen when the adoption was finalized. Though a part of me was sorry that we wouldn’t follow the tradition and stand in the courtroom the way my sister and I did, the larger part of me was relieved that I didn’t have to rush through the process.

When I read this article in the International Examiner, I was shocked. Here is a young man, just a little older than my sister, who faced deportation. The majority of his life had been spent here and they might send him back to Korea because his parents had forgotten to ensure his citizenship.

He... more

May 25th will be my last day blogging for adoptionblogs.com. I’m a little sad about that. I’ve been blogging here for one year and three months, but I needed to move on. Writing here has really helped to open my eyes to Korean adoption because it has forced me to branch out and explore new areas. Comments from readers have led me to new areas and new opinions.

It serves as a reminder that Korean adoption as a whole is a huge concept. You have to look at all sides – birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees – and realize that you just can’t know everything. The more egotistical side of me has often assumed that I know more than the average bear about Korean adoption – after... more

I have always enjoyed school. Even when it wasn’t “cool” to enjoy school, I really enjoyed school. I liked learning new things and the times I rebelled the most in school was when I had a teacher who really didn’t like to teach.

Anyhow, when I saw an article about a Korean adoptee who received a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Hong Kong, I was pretty excited. According to the article, this is the first time that Laura Brymer will be in the area since she came... more

I was reading Nancy’s post on the Reactive Attachment blog about the Virgina Tech shooting and I was wondering at my own compulsion to write about the incident. I hadn’t planned on writing anything about it, but every time I attempted to write something else…it was all that popped into my head.

I can’t even begin to imagine what was running though the head of the young man who open fired on students and teachers on the Virginia Tech campus. Most likely,... more