To the Motherland - Korean adoptees searching for birth family (4EB, Brisbane)

By Ellie Freeman

Over 150,000 Koreans have been adopted overseas since the Korean
War Armistice in 1954. And I am one of them.

I was born in South Korea. I was adopted to Australia when I was a
baby and raised by white Australian parents. I never knew my birth
parents. All I knew was that my mother was not married when she
became pregnant with me and, in 1980s Korea, could not afford to
support me and had to give me up for adoption.

When I met a Korean American adoptee in early 2013 who mentioned
that some adoption files are falsified, I wanted suddenly to find
out the truth.

With the support of a Korean adoptee support organisation the
Global Overseas Adoptees' Link, I returned to Korea for the first
time since I was born and searched for my birth parents.

Along the way, I met other Korean adoptees, saw the country where I
was born, learned more about adoption and - unexpectedly - found my
birth family.

The idea for documenting this experience began when I was in Korea
last September, so most of the atmos and scenes from my trip in
this documentary are real recordings from that time.

Judging from all the questions I am asked about my birth and where
I'm from, I see that there are many myths and misconceptions about
international adoptees. Not all of us want to search for birth
family. Some of us have no desire to return to our home country.
Some of us feel more Australian than Korean, or badly want to get
in touch with our Korean roots, or simply don't know. Some of us
have tried to search but unfortunately failed. Some of us have had
happy reunion experiences, and some not so happy.

International adoptees often battle issues around ethnic identity
and isolation due to our unusual family circumstances. But in the
modern age of social media, adoptees are establishing ways to
organise activism, education, support, and outlets to express
ourselves. We are a growing community with many diverse views,
experiences and stories.

I am telling my own story of birth family reunion in Korea along
with the voices of other Korean Australian adoptees, academics and
activists - to give an insight into our reality.

These voices are:

Kerrie Freeman - my adoptive mother
HeeRa Heaser - Korean American adoptee, PhD student the University
of New South Wales
Seon Kee Woodley - Australian Korean adoptee from Melbourne,
originally Perth
Tiarne Double - Australian Korean adoptee from Tasmania
Pia Meehan - Australian Korean adoptee from Perth
Hana Crisp - Australian Korean adoptee from Melbourne, originally
Hobart
Carly Reid - Australian Korean adoptee from Brisbane, originally
Perth
Tim Vanderburg - Australian Korean adoptee living in South Korea,
originally Sydney
Andrea Kim - Korean American adoptee, Fullbright Scholarship
researcher currently living in Seoul
My Korean birth mother
Park Young Hee - Korean Australian actress and performer, who acts
as the voice of my adoptee social worker

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