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Center for Reproductive Justice
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I'm writing my own memoir. How do I get it published? Getting your work published is a mixture of luck, timing, skill, and hard work. There's no magic way to make it happen, but you can find some good companionship in both people and books as you embark upon your publishing journey. I've met some of my favorite people in writing groups around the Twin Cities--check out The Loft and SASE. Now, please meet some of my favorite books!
How do I go about searching for my Korean family? I never had to search; my Korean mother found me way back in 1972, much to my American parents' surprise. So I haven't had the personal experience of searching, but here is what I know: Sunny Jo wrote a great pocket-sized book about the search process called Birthfamily Search and Reunion. Online registries are located at GOAL, InKAS, and GAIPS. I recommend contacting both GOAL and InKAS for assistance in your search; GAIPS is a newer organization and as I understand it, they have mostly been doing counseling for birthfamilies. In general, I think you have to be REALLY PERSISTENT. The Korean agencies (and Koreans in general) are more responsive to the phone than they are to email. Just keep calling and calling and calling even if it feels pushy and rude to your Western sensibilities. Don't forget that the people who work in the agencies are Korean and they view you as a FOREIGNER--plus that you were never supposed to come back!! Don't take anything the agencies say to you regarding your story or their rules as purely factual, but rather the interpretation of the day. Also, no matter how conscientious your agency is in your adoptive country, they are still dependent on the information they get from Korea. There are many stories of adoptees who have found their birthfamilies despite their agencies saying there was no hope at all. Conversely, I also know many adoptees who have searched but who were unable to find anyone. Regarding the media and those reunion shows: They are providing, after all, entertainment --not social services. (Sadly this is only possible because the adoption agencies are not providing adequate social services for us.) Contact GOAL for information on how to get on those programs. Some adoptees feel that if they make the decision to search for their birthparents, they are somehow betraying their adoptive parents. I look at it like this: people get divorced and remarried all the time. When you gain a stepfamily, you integrate them into your family life--and it doesn't mean you love your other family any less. So I think the same about having a Korean family--it's just an opportunity to expand your relationships and love more people! I think adoptive parents who are secure with themselves and their roles as parents are able to see it the same way. GOOD LUCK!!
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| The Language of Blood: A Memoir Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption | Fugitive Visions |
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