Geographies of Kinship

GEOGRAPHIES OF KINSHIP weaves together the complex personal histories of four adult adoptees born in South Korea with the rise of the country’s global adoption program. Raised in foreign families, each adoptee sets out on a journey to reconnect with their roots, mapping the geographies of kinship that bind them to a homeland they never knew.

LenaKim Arctaedius and her sisters, like many Korean adoptees, were adopted from Korea to Europe, Australia and North America to parents who are not of the same race. As children, and now as adults, they continue to struggle with identity and belonging.

Harry and Bertha Holt believed it their mission to save Korean children, especially of mixed race, by bringing them to the U.S. for adoption. But the legacy of their work has not always been viewed as positive by both social workers then and the adopted as adults now.

For Estelle Cooke-Sampson, a Black-Korean adoptee, her beginnings are marked with questions. Many Korean adoptees like Cooke-Sampson are now searching for answers in their home country about who they are, where they come from and the family they may have.

How did adopted children from Korea find their forever family? Since the Korean War, the country's global adoption program has seen an estimated 200,000 adoptees like Estelle Cooke-Sampson move overseas. But what impact has this had on South Korea, its policies and society?

LenaKim Arctaedius and her sisters were adopted in a loving family in Sweden. Her parents were aware of what it meant to raise and protect Korean children in a country not familiar with people of Asian descent. How does this affect children's identity and sense of belonging?