



































Columbia University Journal of Student Social Work Volume 1, Number 1
8

Introduction
On January 13, 1903, the first Korean immigrants to the United States

arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the S.S. Gaelic. In commemoration,
President George W. Bush issued a proclamation declaring January 13, 2003
as the “Centennial of Korean Immigration to the United States.” Throughout
the year, programs, ceremonies, and activities honoring Korean immigrants
and their descendants have been scheduled to celebrate the contributions of
Korean-Americans over the past one-hundred years.

There was a time when I would not have identified with the millions of
Koreans who risked everything for the hope of a new life in a new land. Like
them, I was born in Korea and came to the United States with the hope of a
better life. But unlike them, I did not travel with family or knowledge of my
blood roots nor did I have to learn a new culture and language all on my
own. My arrival to the United States at the age of three was eagerly await-
ed; I had become an American through adoption.

Trends in the Field of Intercountry Adoption
It is estimated that between 1955 and 1999, a total of 143,144 Korean

children were placed for overseas adoptions worldwide (Holt Korea, 2003).
Of these children, an estimated 100,008 were adopted by American families
(U.S. State Department, 2003; Gathering, 1999). The first wave of Korean-
born children adopted in the aftermath of the Korean war were pioneers,
paving the way for the thousands of orphaned and abandoned children who
are now adopted through intercountry adoption. 

Currently, the practice of intercountry adoption involves the transfer of

AADULDULTT KKOREANOREAN IINTERCOUNTRNTERCOUNTRYY AADOPTEESDOPTEES: : 
A RA RESOURCEESOURCE FORFOR AADOPTIONDOPTION PPRACTICERACTICE

Hollee A. McGinnis

The author shares a personal narrative of her efforts to establish an adult
intercountry adoptee organization in New York City. These efforts coa-
lesced with a national movement of adult intercountry adopted Koreans
culminating in the Gathering of the First Generation of Adult Korean

Adoptees, held in Washington, D.C. in 1999, and the Second Gathering in
Oslo, Norway in 2001. The contribution of adult Korean adoptees to the

field of intercountry and transracial adoption is discussed, with suggestions
for how adult adopted persons can be utilized to enhance adoption prac-



MCGINNIS / Adult Korean Intercountry Adoptees: A Resource for Adoption Practice
9

an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 children from over 50 countries each year,
with the United States receiving the largest number of the world’s children
(Masson, 2001; Lovelock, 2000). According to the U.S. State Department,
the total number of foreign-born children adopted by U.S. citizens has
increased by nearly 40 percent, from 8,102 children in 1989, to an estimat-
ed 20,099 children in 2002 (Table 1). Since 1995, the top four countries
issuing visas for children migrating to the U.S. for adoption were China
(Mainland), Russia, South Korea, and Guatemala (U.S. State Department,
2003).

Source: U.S. State Department: http://travel.state.gov/orphan_numbers.html

In the United States, many of the first waves of Korean adopted children
are now professionals with a wealth of experience and knowledge to share
with the new generation of intercountry adopted children. My efforts as a
Korean adoptee to establish an adult intercountry adoptee organization in
New York City coalesced with a national movement of adult intercountry
adopted Koreans that culminated in the Gathering of the First Generation of
Adult Korean Adoptees, held in Washington, D.C. in 1999, and the Second
Gathering in Oslo, Norway in 2001.

Making Connections
Although I always knew I was born in Korea and adopted, I was not

always conscious of what either meant.  Growing up, being Korean
described my physical appearance, explained where I came from, and made
me unique from the rest of my family. As a teenager, I was made more con-



Columbia University Journal of Student Social Work Volume 1, Number 1
10

scious of looking Asian because people assumed, based on my physical
appearance, that I spoke Korean or knew Korean culture. However, because
I was raised by a non-Korean family I did not think of myself as Korean. I
was a McGinnis. I felt that because of my appearance, people assumed I had
knowledge of Korean culture.  I felt like an imposter: I only knew American
culture. 

Despite how American I felt, my family could not tell me where I got my
eyes, my artistic talents, or the shape of my face. Their love could not shield
me from the questions or the puzzled faces of those who did not understand
how a White couple could have an Asian daughter. Living in a society that
places a primacy on biology, an adopted person cannot help but feel exclud-
ed and cheated for the lack of knowledge of his or her genetic roots. Lacking
such knowledge, adopted people must find other kinds of connections.

My studies as an undergraduate connected me to the history of inter-
country adoptions in the United States, which first began after World War II
in response to the humanitarian needs and an altruistic response to displaced
war orphans (Masson, 2001; Lovelock, 2000; Riley, 1997). Similar senti-
ments initially led to the adoption of foreign children after the Korean and
Vietnam Wars (Masson; Lovelock). Latin America emerged as a significant
relinquishing region for intercountry adoptions by the mid 1970s, followed
by the former Soviet Union and China by the mid 1990s (U.S. State
Department, 2003).

Also-Known-As
From my studies, I realized I was not alone. As I sought to reconcile my

self-identity based on my adoption experience with the identity imposed by
the racial stereotypes of my society, a conflict arose. I was only given two
choices: Korean or American. The reality for me was that I was both. My
Korean mother gave birth to my body, but my adoptive mother and father
gave birth to my soul. The East gave me life, but the West taught me how to
live it. I realized that as an individual I had little power to shift misconcep-
tions regarding adoption, yet as a community, international adoptees could
do much to shift perceptions of adoption and racial stereotypes.

In forming Also-Known-As, an organization for adult intercountry
adoptees, in 1996, I wanted to gather fellow adult adoptees in order to cele-
brate our unique experiences and serve the younger generation of intercoun-
try adoptees and adoptive families. Gathering as a community we could
assert our unique culture as transracial and international adopted people and
create a space in which we could embrace our unique identities. The name
of the organization is a reflection of our self-identities and human experi-
ences that are not apparent on the surface. I am Hollee McGinnis, also-
known-as Lee Hwa Yong. In establishing the organization, I found a com-



MCGINNIS / Adult Korean Intercountry Adoptees: A Resource for Adoption Practice
11

munity outside of my adoptive family that shared a desire to make a differ-
ence with the unique lives we had been given.

Although we believed intercountry adoptees shared a common experi-
ence and sought to include adoptees from all countries, our first effort
focused on connecting with Korean adoptees, who constitute the largest
number of intercountry adoptees in the U.S. Our efforts coincided with pre-
vious efforts by adult Korean adoptees to establish organizations in
Minnesota and Los Angeles. However, our organization was unique in that
its primary goal was to establish post-adoption services informed by the
experiences of adult adoptees. In addition, we were among the first organi-
zations to utilize the Internet to connect with adopted people both national-
ly and internationally.

The Gathering of the First Generation of Adult Korean Adoptees
The Gathering of the First Generation of Adult Korean Adoptees, a three

day conference held in September 1999 in Washington, D.C., was a momen-
tous culmination in the development of the adult Korean adoptee communi-
ty. This conference, sponsored by Holt International Children’s Services,
Also-Known-As, the Korea Society, and The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption
Institue, brought together nearly 400 adults adopted from Korea between
1955 and 1985, representing over 30 U.S. states and several European coun-
tries (Gathering, 1999). 

This conference was unique in its purpose to provide an opportunity for
adoptees to share their experiences, bringing together the past, present, and
future of Korean intercountry adoptions. To gain greater insight into the
experiences of Korean adoptees, as well as to plan the conference itself, The
Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, in conjunction with Holt
International Children’s Services, surveyed the participants at the Gathering
(Gathering, 1999). Participants discussed, in small groups based on birth
years, topics such as reasons for participating in the conference, memories
of Korea and arrival at their new home, impact of early experiences on
adoptees’ lives, discrimination, identity, dating and relationships, relation-
ship to Korea, search and reunion, and perceptions of adoption. The confer-
ence concluded in the early dawn at the Korean War Memorial and was a
testament to the shared suffering of a generation of Koreans who survived a
war, were transplanted from their birth culture, and built new lives on for-
eign soil.

Since the Gathering, Korean adult adoptees have continued to meet at
“mini-gatherings” throughout the country, new organizations of adult
Korean adoptees have sprung up, and a plethora of websites now connect
Korean adoptees throughout the world. A second Gathering, focused on
bringing together Korean adoptees from Europe, occurred in Oslo, Norway



Columbia University Journal of Student Social Work Volume 1, Number 1
12

in July 2001.  

Future Directions
Despite the increase in the number of intercountry adoptions, research in

this field is limited. However, a growing body of work has begun to focus
on factors influencing ethnic identity formation and development in inter-
country transracial adoptees (Fiegelman & Silverman, 1984; Trolley,
Hansen & Wallin, 1995; Huh & Reid, 2000; Carstens & Juliá, 2000; Vonk,
2001). These studies of ethnic identity formation have  consistently relied on
adoptive parents to answer questions regarding the racial awareness and
identity formation of their transracially adopted childen. Although parents
can provide accurate information about much of their children's conduct, it
is difficult for them to provide data on all of their children's activities and
feelings (Feigelman, 2000). 

In addition, current studies on ethnic awareness have relied on the expe-
riences of young adoptees rather than adoptees who are in adolescence or
early adulthood—the age at which racial identification is most salient and
recognition of one's racial and ethnic identity becomes most important
(Feigelman, 2000; Hug & Reid, 2000). Thus, the importance of race may be
underrepresented in these studies because of the relationship between racial
identification and development. Although discussion of the results of the
Gathering survey is beyond the scope of this paper, it is clear that the inclu-
sion of adult adoptees’ experiences and reflections of their identities would
be invaluable to future studies on ethnic identity development over the life-
span.

Korean adult adoptees have already influenced the development of inter-
country adoption practice. For example, Also-Known-As has a Speaker’s
Bureau where adult adoptees share their experiences of being adopted.
While we realize that the experiences of the current generation of inter-
country adoptees may be different from our own, we recognize that we have
insights into growing up in transracial families that are valuable for prospec-
tive adoptive families.

Research supports that the adoptive family's sociocultural milieu, includ-
ing minority role models, is a significant factor affecting ethnic identifica-
tion of transracial adoptees (Zuñiga, 1991; Carstens & Juliá, 2000). Thus,
we offer a mentorship program for intercountry adopted youth, providing
minority role models who are also adopted. Adult adoptees have been influ-
ential in establishing culture camps and culture days for intercountry adop-
tive families, reflecting their own desires to have had opportunities to con-
nect with their birth cultures growing up.

Today, Korean adoptees are traveling to Korea in unprecedented waves,
seeking to experience their birth culture. By sharing their experiences in



MCGINNIS / Adult Korean Intercountry Adoptees: A Resource for Adoption Practice
13

film, memoir, and the arts, Korean adoptees are redefining what it means to
be an adopted person. Adult Korean adoptees are leading experts into unex-
pected territories. Many Korean adoptees are actively searching for—and
finding—birth parents, a prospect that many adoption professionals once
assumed to be impossible.

Conclusion
Agencies need to be responsive to the life-long needs of Korean

Intercounrty Adoptees and can do so by partnering with adult adoptee organ-
izations. The formation of these organizations is a response to the unmet
needs of adult adoptees. Practitioners in the field of adoption often think
their work is complete when the child is placed in the hands of a new fami-
ly; however, this is just the beginning of a life-long journey of self-discov-
ery. 

References
Carstens, C., Juliá, M. (2000). Ethnoracial awareness in intercountry 

adoption: U.S. experiences. International Social Work, 43, 61-73.
Feigelman, W., Silverman, A. (1984). The long-term effects of transra-

cial adoption. Social Service Review, 58, 588-602.
Feigelman, W. (2000). Adjustments of transracially and inracially 

adopted young adults. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 
17,165-183.

Gathering of the First Generation of Adult Korean Adoptees (1999). 
Report retrieved March 6, 2003 from  
http://www.holtintl.org/pdfs/Survey2.pdf

Holt Korea, Inc. (2003). The Overseas Adoption Situation (1955-1999). 
Retrieved March 6, 2003 from http://www.holt.or.kr/adop.htm

Huh, N. S., William J. R. (2000). Intercountry, transracial adoption and 
ethnic identity: A Korean example. International Social Work, 43, 75-87.

Lovelock, K. (2000). Intercountry adoption as a migratory practice: A
comparative analysis of intercountry adoption and immigration policy 
and practice in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand in 
the post W.W. II period. International Migration Review, 34(3), 
907-923.

Masson, J. (2001). Intercountry adoption: A global problem or a glob-
al solution? Journal of International Affairs, 55(1), 141-146.

Riley, N. (1997). American adoptions of Chinese girls: The socio-
political matrices of individual decisions. Women’s Studies 
International Forum, 20(1), 87-102.

Trolley, B. C., Wallin, J., Hansen, J. (1995). International adoption: 
Issues of acknowledgement of adoption and birth culture. Child 
and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 12, 465-479.

U.S. State Department (2003). Immigrant visas issued to orphans 
coming to the US. Retrieved March 6, 2003 from 



Columbia University Journal of Student Social Work Volume 1, Number 1
14

http://travel.state.gov/orphan_numbers.html
Vonk, M.E. (2001). Cultural competence for transracial adoptive par-

ents. Social Work, 46, 246-255.
Zuñiga, M. (1991). Transracial adoption: Educating the parents. 

Journal of Multicultural Social Work, 1, 17-31.

Hollee A. McGinnis is a second-year MS student at the Columbia
University School of Social Work concentrating in International Social

Welfare Policy. She is currently an intern at the Council on Accreditation
in New York City. She holds a BA in American Studies from Mount

Holyoke College.


