This video above is a Ted Talk by Sara Jones who was adopted from South Korea by a family living in Utah. The speaker shares details of her upbringing in a white family and losing a connection with her Korean ethnicity and culture. The complex feelings and challenges with identity are explored as well. The speaker shares her journey with discovering details of her birth family. The speaker suggests ways adults can protect an adopted child’s story, including having an open space to share emotions and validating adoptee’s feelings.
This article explores Mengwen Cao’s story of moving to New York and having trouble identifying with her culture. Whether she was visiting back home in China or when in New York, she felt different. This inspired her to seek the experiences of young individuals who were born in Asia, and adopted to America by white parents.
This article is interesting and enlightening. Although the article is not specific to just adoptees from Asia, there are some valuable topics covered. Real life examples are provided and misconceptions related to transracial adoption are discussed.
References:
The Realities of Raising a Kid of a Different Race. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://time.com/the-realities-of-raising-a-kid-of-a-different-race/
Cao, M., & Aridi, S. (2019, February 14). Reconciling Asian-American Identity Within Transracial Adoptions. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/lens/asian-american-identity-transracial-adoptions.html
Jones, S. (Dec. 13, 2019). Reclaiming my voice as a transracial adoptee . Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMM9FhZiP80
Adoption and Identity 