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Adoption stories


Leah Kessel
Minneapolis, MN

Birth Country: South Korea
Decade of adoption: 1970s

My biological brother and I were adopted by a Minnesotan family (parents and their biological son) when I was four and he was two years old. They went through the Children's Home Society here in St. Paul. Even though the three of us were raised together in the same household, we are very different from each other. My younger brother and I have different feelings about our adoption, and I think that my older brother's experiences are just as important to acknowledge.

Several years ago, my family took a trip to South Korea, and I was able to meet my birth mother and her family. It was an incredible experience.

I am most grateful to have been adopted with my younger brother, that we were able to stay together. I am also very happy to have been brought together with an older brother whom I love just as much as I do my younger brother. And I believe we were all meant to be with one another.

At the time that my parents adopted us, I don't believe it was common for parents to go abroad to pick up the children themselves. I vaguely remember being on the plane, sitting next to people and playing with them. I recently came upon a note from the adults who had been playing with us on the plane, and it was a wonderful experience. It felt like just another piece of the experience (puzzle) had been handed to me.



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