Adapted

Tobias Hübinette, 50, is an adopted Korean and academic scholar of critical adoption, race and Korean studies, respectively. His work has focused on looking at international adoption from Korea to the West from all angles, not just from the perspective of receiving countries or adoptive families. He has also been an activist and critic of Korea's commodification of its children -- an acknowledgment that is only now starting to permeate mainstream adoptee, political, historical and adoption industry circles. 

Mai Young Øvilsen, 39, is a Danish Korean composer and lead singer of the band Meejah, whose alt-shoegaze sounds are punctuated by her lyrics about adoption, transnational identity and homeland. This is the last episode of 2021. 

French Korean adoptee Laure Badufle, 37, shares her story of growing up in the French countryside to meeting her birth parents in Korea in her 20s. Trying to make sense of the reunion and how her parents reacted to her re-emergence and the resulting chaos she felt inside, set Laure on a quest for answers and to find peace within herself. This work is something she's now focused on helping other adoptees be able to find their peace too. 

Peter Savasta [he/him], 46, has been around adoptee spaces for more than two decades. Raised in Queens in an Italian-American family, he found mirrors when he went to a diverse high school in Bronx, NY, and again when he found other gay Asian-Americans. In adoptee spaces he was an early mentor and source of support. Today, he continues to contribute by sharing his story with the podcast. 

Kimura Byol, also known as Natalie Lemoine, [ze pronoun] talks about how ze adoption and upbringing in Belgium helped shaped ze politics and activism related to international transracial adoption. Particularly Kimura is passionate about improving access for adoptees to their birth records and identities. Part of that activism began when Kimura faced her own falsified and inaccurate adoption records.  

Korean adoptee Adam Crapser, 46, sits down with the podcast to share his thoughts post-deportation,  the controversy surrounding Blue Bayou and filmmaker Justin Chon, adoptee citizenship and media exploitation of deported adoptees. You'll hear directly from Adam about the events that have unfolded over the past five years and what ethical filmmaking around adoptees should look like. 

This year has been a whirlwind. I was contacted by someone who would later be confirmed to be my paternal half-sister. Lisa Beck, adopted to Denmark as an infant nine years before my own adoption to the US, and I met in Denmark this past summer for the first time. For me, it was the first time to meet an immediate biological family member and we sat down a few weeks after that meeting to discuss how we felt through the process. 

Former Goa'l Secretary General Richard Kim talks to Kaomi Lee of Adapted Podcast about the pros and cons of the F4 visa vs. dual citizenship for Korean adoptees. Information heard here is subject to change. Consult an immigration attorney or the Korean immigration office for final word. 

Susan Gaeta, originally named Lee Hyung ho at birth in her native Korea, 48, was adopted to the US as an infant. Today, she lives in Massachusetts and is a wife, mom and Lutheran minister. She's also bisexual and has a rare health condition. Hear how she's been able to find connection with others in various communities, and why as an adoptee, it's so important to her. 

In 2016, Maree Kinder, now 33, originally named Chang Ma Ree, quit her job in London and moved with her husband, Steve, to Seoul, to live for six months to search for her Korean mother. But disappointment and grief with her search had her turning to Korean beauty products as a way to numb the pain and connect to Korean culture. Now, her business, Beauty  and Seoul, a Korean skincare retailer based in the UK, is celebrating its fourth year of success. Kinder shares her insights on Korea, her identity and what else she's learned along the way. 

Jessye Hale, 23, was adopted from Korea as a child and grew up in Wisconsin. Today, she finds herself back in her native country working as a cancer researcher.  She also found her biological parents and has been learning how to navigate these new relationships. 

Allie De Lacy, 25, was adopted from China to the UK at the age of two. Now married to a woman and living in Edinburgh, DeLacy talks about her experiences growing up in near racial isolation and the racism she has experienced and still does today, even more so in the past year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Listen as De Lacy shares how by researching her past, she discovered she knew even less than she had thought.

Robert (Calabretta) Lee, 35, was adopted from South Korea to an abusive home in the U.S. He survived a difficult childhood, first in Michigan and later in central New York, by moving out at age 16 and found hope from key friendships along the way and exposure to a nearby Korean church community in Ithaca, NY. His story takes some surprising turns, including at one point being told by Holt Korea his file contained nothing to reuniting with his family and discovering the shocking revelation that he had been trafficked. 

Korean-American adoptee Jacquelyn Wells, 33, born Choi Yena, shares some of her story in a wide-ranging interview about being a musician, jewelry designer and now taking on leadership roles in the Korean adoptee community. Listen to this up-close look at her life where she also talks about reuniting with her Korean family and her reflections about it. 

TW: Suicide Korean adoptee Darcy Mitttelstaedt, 49, has overcome so much. And yet her faith and her work helping others have given her so much hope. She was raised in a farming community in Nebraska amidst abuse and dysfunction. Despite the emotional scars, Mittelstaedt has found her calling in life and has learned to form her own family and find some peace. 

Korean adoptee Sun Mee Martin, 39, was adopted from South Korea at the age of 3 1/2 years to Bavaria, Germany. She grew up constantly being questioned about why she was there and felt othered by others who would ask where she was from. "I think a more interesting question is, 'where are you going?', Martin says on the episode. After living in New York City and two trips back to Korea, Martin is now in Berlin and shares where she is going.  

Danish filmmaker and Korean adoptee Sun Hee Engelstoft, 38, born 신순희 sits down with Adapted Podcast to talk about the making of her profound documentary film, "Forget Me Not," which focuses on the lives of several Korean teenagers who are faced with a difficult decision of whether to keep their babies or give them up for adoption. 

Timothy Vanderburg, 30, is an Australian Korean adoptee living in Sydney.  Growing up, he became involved with a local Korean adoptee camp and continued to have an interest in Korea throughout his life. And though he's had many opportunities to connect with his native land and its people, those experiences have taught him important lessons about identity. 

Korean adoptee SunAh Marie Laybourn, 38, was adopted to the state of Tennessee in the US at the age of four months from Korea. After her adoptive mother died when SunAh was young and navigating environments where she was different from the white or Black students at her schools, she buried her feelings as a way to cope. Now an educator, motivational speaker and coach and podcaster, the high achiever has had much professional success. Lately, Laybourn has focused on a personal identity transformation that has culminated in changing her name to reflect her Korean roots.   

Korean adoptee Jonas Gürrich, 34, was adopted at three months old to Norway. The story he's been told about his relinquishment by his Korean mother is a familiar one - a young woman unable to take care of him - and has chosen to embrace the positives in his life. Recently, he's been exploring DNA as a way to search for biological relatives, though not without some trepidation.