Abby Smith

Abby Smith, 27, was born in South Korea and adopted when she was 8 months old by an American family living in rural Michigan. She grew up with two older brothers with whom she loved to spend time outside, painting a picture of a childhood set on a farm with an acreage of woods as her backyard. She describes her parents as being open to having conversations about adoption when she sought it out—they would celebrate her “Gotcha Day” alongside her birthday—though she tells us that it wasn’t a topic she often brought up.

In 2019 Abby moved to New York for work, where she met her now-roommate. She opted to stay in the city throughout Thanksgiving week when she was invited to her roommate’s Friendsgiving dinner, which, in retrospect, Abby believes was the first time she ate Korean food. Living and working in New York, where she could enter spaces that were predominately Asian American, she realized that she could likewise show up as a Korean adoptee without fear of “being outed” or judgement. She is also in community with other Korean adoptees, to whom she feels grateful for their advice on navigating through personal histories, as well as their words of wisdom on visiting Korea.

She acknowledges the emotional apprehension around delving into one’s adoption history, while also wondering how one could ever know when they’re ready to initiate that process; “I’m going to be more emotional than I am expecting,” she says, “…but within a few years I think I’ll be able to handle it more.” Today, as Abby prepares to visit the country for the first time, she suspects that her younger self would be both excited and humbled by the all that she couldn’t have ever imagined would happen.

Special thanks to the Thomas and Wonsook Foundation for their generous support in making this project possible.