How a Trip to a South Korean Orphanage Redefined My Meaning of Family One thing that's changed for me by virtue of being a sibling through adoption is my awareness of children without families. After adopting my little brother Oscar, my family opted to take a tour of Ilsan, an orphanage in South Korea associated with our agency. Of course, gratitude and happiness were all we could think about, as we had just acquired a wonderful new addition to our growing family. But as I re

Why "Happily Ever After" Requires More Than Just a Welcome Home One thing that has shifted for me recently is my focus on how the "system" affects the individual. Growing up with a sibling who joined our family through adoption, I’ve always been sensitive to the hurdles families face. But as I follow the news this spring, I’m struck by how quickly those hurdles are changing right here in the U.S. We often think of adoption as a final, joyful destination - a "happily ever afte

Bringing My Seven-Year-Old Sister Home from Hong Kong Changed the Way I Think About Family One thing that has changed my perspective as a sibling through adoption is my understanding of just how complicated finding a family can be. Very recently, my family traveled to Hong Kong to adopt my younger sister Emmy, who is seven years old. Having already experienced adoption when my younger brother Oscar joined our family from South Korea, I thought I had a pretty good understandin