Adam Goodman

Adam Goodman is a 44-year-old Korean adoptee, lifelong Yankees fan, and dedicated community leader based in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Born in South Korea, he was adopted alongside his younger brother in 1986 by an American family living in Westchester County, New York. Growing up in the 80s/90s as a transracial adoptee in a predominately white area, he describes his immediate community as “colorblind,” though his parents never hid the fact of his and his brother’s adoption, mindful that they were raising Asian children in a white family.

His childhood was busy: he was a gifted athlete, talented singer, and an honor roll student, a cocktail of achievements he partly attributes to the internal and external pressures that manifested, for him, from a sense of abandonment. On reflecting on the complex psychology of adoption, Adam notes how many adoptees may feel, and deal uniquely with, a sense of ambiguous loss; for him, this meant excelling as his mental health took a toll throughout his young adult years.

The need to excel, driven by anxiety, slowly transformed into a sense of purpose towards others. A pivotal moment arrived in 2007 when Adam attended IKAA for the first time, attending emotionally resonant panels with other adoptees with whom Adam felt a shared sense of purpose in “getting to know each other, or at least be together.” He’d go on to travel to Amsterdam for small gatherings amongst adoptees, as well as grow involved in local adoptee communities as well.

Today, Adam serves as the Director of Youth and Teen Mentorship for Also Known As (@also.known.asinc), where he strives to give young people the opportunity to be a part of a larger adoptee community as they navigate various parts of their personal journeys.

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