Returning to Korea for the First Time

After reuniting with my biological mother in America, the next big step was traveling to Korea. For most of my life, Korea was a place I only knew through adoption papers, a few old photos, and bits of information from the agency. I had very few memories from early childhood. In reality, I had no real memories of my life there at all. So the idea of returning was overwhelming. It felt like traveling back to a place that belonged to me, yet was completely unknown.

Planning the trip felt surreal. It wasn’t a vacation or a simple visit. It was a journey back to the beginning of my story. My husband and I prepared everything, but as the date came closer, the weight of what this trip meant became heavier. I was going back to the country where I was born, where my life first started, and where everything changed for my family.

When we arrived in Korea, the experience was unlike anything I had ever felt. Everything around me was unfamiliar, yet it stirred something inside me. The language, the food, the city lights, the way people moved. I had grown up American, but somewhere deep inside, there was a quiet sense of connection. Like my body recognized something even if my mind didn’t.

Seeing my biological mother again in Korea was different from seeing her in America. This was her home. Her life. Her everyday world. Meeting her there made everything feel deeper. I could finally see the environment that shaped her. Her surroundings. The culture she lived in. The routines she followed. It helped me understand her in ways I couldn’t when she visited America.

She introduced me to relatives I had never met. People who knew about me only through her. There were a lot of emotions. Moments of confusion. Moments of comfort. A lot of tears. And times where I didn’t know how to react because everything felt new and familiar at the same time.

Being in Korea made my adoption feel real in a way it never had before. My biological family. My history. My roots. For the first time, I could physically stand in the place that shaped the beginning of my life.

Leaving Korea after that first trip was emotional. The experience gave me something I didn’t know I needed. A connection to a place that felt both foreign and unexpectedly familiar. A deeper understanding of the woman who brought me into this world. And a stronger understanding of myself.

That trip changed me. It brought answers, but it also brought new questions. It brought healing, but also reminded me how complicated identity can be. Korea became a part of me that I could finally feel, not just imagine.

And it was only the beginning of building a relationship with my biological family.