There is an article in the NY Times today about the new Donaldson Adoption Institute study of the 1st generation of Korean adoptees today. Obviously, things have changed somewhat in recent years but it is still interesting reading. Hmm. It appears the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute has let it’s website registration lapse so I can’t get to the actual report. Either way, you can read the NY Times.:
Heidi Weitzman, who was adopted from Korea when she was 7 months old and who grew up in ethnically mixed neighborhoods in St. Paul, said her parents were in touch with other parents with Korean children and even offered to send her to a “culture camp” where she could learn about her heritage.
“But I hated it,” said Ms. Weitzman, a mental health therapist in St. Paul. “I didn’t want to do anything that made me stand out as being Korean. Being surrounded by people who were blonds and brunets, I just thought that I was white.” It was not until she moved to New York after college that she began to become comfortable with being Korean.
(This does not count as my NaBloPoMo post for the day.)
I am not sure that things have changed as much as anyone might hope. (I can’t elaborate further, except to say that this is part of my extended-family story.)
The page is up: http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/research/2009_11_culture_camp.php
Interesting. I met a Korean adoptee recently, who felt her adoption experience was “awesome” and that she’d had a great childhood, even though she grew up in a predominantly white area, and that she is a great advocate of adoption. I asked her what made it different than others I’d read about (where the adoptee had identity issues) and initially she said she didn’t know, but after I asked more questions I found out that her parents made a huge effort to expose her and her sister (also adopted from Korea) to the Korean culture, and they went to Korean culture camp every year, which she loved. But I guess judging from the NY Times article, culture camp isn’t for everyone… I’d like to get to know her better to hear more of what her parents did to make her feel the way she does.
I know Heidi and her parents, and we have talked about adoption. I wouldn’t presume to speak for them in this context, but I think you can take the article at face value. Her parents were open minded and supportive, but she still felt different. Identity is hard. Racial identity is hard. But Heidi worked for a while as an adoption social worker. She’s not anti adoption. That’s probably more than I should say.