Searching for My Biological Family

After my dad passed away on February 2, 2008, something inside me shifted. Losing him made me think more seriously about the part of my life I had never fully understood. I didn’t know what my life in Korea had been like. I didn’t know why my sister and I were adopted. I didn’t know if my biological parents were still together or if I had more siblings. These questions started to matter in a way they never had before.

So I began searching.

I emailed every adoption agency I could find, both in the United States and in Korea. I reached out to anyone who might have access to records or even the smallest piece of information. Most agencies never replied. Some said they couldn’t help. Others said they had no files.

But I did not feel frustrated. I didn’t expect anything to happen. I had already prepared myself for the possibility that I might never get any answers at all.

Then, after about a year, everything changed.

Out of nowhere, I received an email from Eastern Social Welfare Society (ESWS) in Korea. They told me they had my biological mother in their system. Not a guess. Not a possibility. They had her name listed.

They asked if I wanted them to send the police to her home to see if she would be open to reunion.

I said yes.

The police went directly to my mother’s house.

They informed her about the search and explained why they were there.

The very next day, my mother and my aunt went to the ESWS agency together.

When ESWS told me this, it felt unreal.

After years of not knowing anything about my past, suddenly everything happened all at once.

My biological mother was alive.

She had been found.

And she wanted to see me.

That moment changed the direction of everything that came next.