“I think no other human on this earth except for adoptees will understand what it’s like to go through life with no link to their origins.'
This undated photo provided by Joo-Rei Mathieson shows herself when she was in childhood taken in South Korea. A Brothers Home intake document describes Mathieson as a lost street kid brought in by police. It notes, chillingly for a government-sponsored vagrants' facility that survivors have told The Associated Press often worked children to death, that she's"capable of labor.
Mathieson was one of the lucky ones. In August 1983, she and 21 other young children from Brothers were transferred to an orphanage in another part of the city. Her escape may have been made possible because of overcrowding at the Brothers’ sprawling compound. But her Korean past “jumped back” at her in recent months as she began to feel she was “on a mission” to discover her roots and locate her Korean parents if they are alive.
“I think no other human on this earth except for adoptees will understand what it’s like to go through life with no link to their origins. It’s something that normal people will take for granted,” Mathieson said in a Zoom interview, using air quotes for the word “normal.” “To see someone that looked so much like me was so exciting.”
Neither Mathieson’s adoption papers nor those of the brothers in Belgium describe any meaningful effort to locate their original families despite the years they spent in the orphanage system.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Survivor of abusive facility searches for lost Korean rootsSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The earliest photo Joo-Rei Mathieson has of herself was taken when she was about four. Her head is shaved, her eyes cast downward. She has just arrived at perhaps the worst place a child could be sent in South Korea.
Read more »
North Korean leader reaffirms arms buildup in party meetingSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un doubled down on his arms buildup in the face of what he described as an aggravating security environment as he concluded a major political conference that came as outside governments monitor signs of a possibly imminent North Korean nuclear test explosion.
Read more »
Hyundai Production Hit By Korean Truckers' Strike That Could Have Global Implications | CarscoopsDifficulties may soon extend beyond Hyundai if South Korea's semiconductor producers are also affected by the strike
Read more »
Survivor of abusive facility searches for lost Korean rootsSEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The earliest photo Joo-Rei Mathieson has of herself was taken when she was about four. Her head is shaved, her eyes cast downward. She has just arrived at perhaps the worst place a child could be sent in South Korea.
Read more »
New York woman finds lost dachshund in lap of actress Hilary SwankA New York woman searching for her lost dog got a surprise when it was found by Oscar-winning actor Hilary Swank.
Read more »
New York woman finds lost dachshund in lap of actress Hilary SwankA New York woman searching for her lost dog got a surprise when it was found by Oscar-winning actor Hilary Swank.
Read more »