Ellie Freeman
Travelling with the Seongs
When you’re adopted, the idea of meeting people who might have the same nose and eyes as you is equal parts impossible and thrilling. I didn’t resemble Appa at all, and it took a long time to find my resemblance to Umma, whose face is only like mine from the nose down. Quietly, I was dying to meet the rest of my family – perhaps then, I thought, I’d finally know what it was to look at a relative and understand what non-adoptees feel when they see their family.
Adoptee Ellie Freeman recounts the process of reuniting with her birth family in Korea and the range of emotions she experienced while forging a deeper relationship with them.