Katy’s StoryBeing adopted by a single mother in the USA had the most profound impact on my life. It set me on a pathway to a life of comfort and ease. My adoptive mother gave me a life of unconditional love in which she did not expect anything back in return.

Having the life of opportunity was taken for granted as “normal”. I never thought much about growing up with schooling, piano lessons, camps, and college. I didn’t consider how lucky I was to have those opportunities. This was until I had a visit back to my homeland, South Korea for the first time. It was then that I met Julie on a visit at Holt Island during Holt’s Motherland Tour. Here I was with a bunch of other fellow young adult adoptees, and here was June — a young adult orphan working hard to make our visit easier. She was an orphan all her life and never had the chance to be adopted or any of the opportunities that I had growing up here in the States.

I realized that it could have been her being adopted and me being the orphan. What an eye-opener it was for me to see Julie living in Korea with no family to support her. Now, Julie and I have remained friends all these 20 years, even after her arrival to the USA.