People often ask me whether I am adopted because I happen to currently conduct research on international adoption, specifically Korean adoption. A related asked question is why do I study adoption?
Although I could just answer by saying "no" to the first question and move the conversation along in another direction, I usually take a few more minutes to explain why the study of Korean adoptees and their families is an overlooked but important aspect of Asian American psychology - which is my broader research interest. Sometimes, I even preempt such questioning by stating up front that I am not adopted but I believe in the totality of the Asian American experience, including immigrants, US-born, refugees, and adoptees. I also emphasize that as a non-adoptee I am not privy to understanding all the complexity of issues that confront adoptees and their families. However, as a Korean/Asian American psychologist, I am committed to fostering - as best I can - an inclusive understanding of what it means to be Asian American and, moreover, I feel it is important to give as much attention to adoptees as to any other Asian American population. Additionally, I realize that I am in a privileged position to advocate for the adoptee community whom many in the larger Asian American community choose to ignore or worse to denigrate.
There are many privileges that come from being born and raised within an immigrant family who have a collective memory of their roots. Growing up, I never questioned what it means to be Korean or if my parents loved me. As a child of immigrants, I also have not been challenged to confront, negotiate, and accept what it means to look racially different from my parents. These things were taken for granted and have come to serve as a core personal experience that is the bedrock of my identity. Yet for many adoptees, it is not so simple especially when these fundamentally existential questions are ignored, overlooked, or discounted within their adoptive families.
Over the last few years, I have come to understand the importance of studying Asian American migration, settlement, and adaptation as part of a larger global diaspora of Asians in America. A diaspora framework allows me to appreciate the within group diversity of Asian Americans much better than simply looking at acculturation/enculturation processes or ethnic identity development. It provides a historical lens that puts individual and group experiences into a better and more accurate cultural context. Toward this end, I have studied not only Korean adoptees, but also Koreans exiled in China and Hmong refugees resettled in Minnesota. Each of these ethnic groups has its unique migration history and adaptation process to their host country that is in some ways similar to others and yet wholy unlike any other.
Though some parents and adoptees may disagree with me or not want to perceive adoptees in this way, Korean adoptees can be construed as a diasporic community in that they were involuntarily displaced from their homeland via adoption and are not fully accepted into their host culture as manifest by assimilative pressures within the family and larger White society, pervasive prejudice and discrimination, and the societal stigma of adoption. Some adoptees, as they come of age, begin to feel a deep internal yearning for their ethnic and cultural roots and respond to their diasporic condition by seeking out a sense of ethnic belonging and place.
My research interest centers on the antecendents and subsequent psychological correlates of this diaspora experience. I am particularly interested in the cultural socialization experiences of transracial and transnational adoptees within their families and the extent to which these ethnic, racial, and cultural experiences facilitate the development of a positive ethnic and racial identity, promote mental health and well-being, and lead to the acquisition of coping strategies and skills to live competently in a racially diverse society.
In this regard, the study of Korean adoption is not much different than the study of immigrant families. That is, the fundamental question is understanding the ways in which Asian Americans live, feel and talk about being members of their ethnic group and experiencing acculturative stressors living in a predominantly White society.
So, when people ask my if I am adopted and why I study adoption, I typically pause and share with them (with you) these thoughts. I hope they make sense and present a reasonable and fair view of why I do what I do and what I do exactly.
Posted by richlee at August 29, 2005 10:16 PMI am so happy to see this article and others about your work with issues relative to Korean adoptees. My son was born in South Korea, which inspired me to write my Master's thesis on Adoption in America and how it has been portrayed in children's literature, particularly that published about and for Asian adoptee families. I will be looking for more of your work and inquiring about the new course being offered at the University of Minnesota--although I won't be able to enroll, since I live in Michigan.
Best wishes to you.
Amy Wykes