A full-circle Paperslip reunion story of a KSS Adoptee reconnecting with her birth family in Korea.

Image credit: Unsplash stock.

Earlier today I had a Zoom call with a female KSS Adoptee who was born in the early 1980s and adopted to the US, who recently returned from her first trip to Korea, where she met her biological mother, siblings, and extended family for the first time.

She found her birth family in record speed after taking a DNA test.

According to the Adoptee, she had never believed a search was possible until she watched the FRONTLINE/AP documentary South Korea's Adoption Reckoning — a project whose origins I had been deeply involved in since 2021, despite receiving no acknowledgment in the credits. She read an associated article in the Washington Post containing a reference to my adoption story, and from there found Paperslip.

She reached out to me to have a private Zoom consultation, which we did on July 15th, 2025. As I tell everyone, I told her to take ALL possible DNA tests. As it turned out, she only took Ancestry (apparently, because there was a SALE on this DNA test — as there are on ALL the DNA tests around major holidays). Through this test, she managed to quickly find a first cousin — a non-Adoptee who by miraculous coincidence had also ONLY taken Ancestry.

On July 31st, 2025, the Adoptee emailed me: “I found my birth parents.”

I really want to emphasize the incredible LUCK of these two first cousins each only taking one DNA test, and it being the same one. However, had they taken DIFFERENT DNA tests, they never would have found one another — since all of the major DNA tests are siloed with SEPARATE databases). So if you are a Korean Adoptee with an interest in birth family search, please take ALL possible DNA tests. If you can only take two, I usually advise Adoptees to take 23 and Me and FTDNA — then upload their raw data to GEDMatch.

The Adoptee initially hesitated to reach out to her first cousin, but after a couple of weeks, they were connected and the cousin was telling her about the Adoptee’s biological family in Korea.

As it turns out, the Adoptee’s maternal family had been searching for her for decades. The Adoptee’s maternal aunt had watched many reunion shows in Korea and on YouTube, hoping to find the Adoptee. However, it was a chance decision by the child of the Adoptee’s first cousin to take a DNA test that led to this DNA match.

The Adoptee recently had a reunion with her biological mother, siblings, and extended maternal family in Korea, from which she returned two weeks ago.

As with nearly all reunions, behind every “beautiful” reunion story is an ocean of pain and longing for the missing pieces of both an Adoptee’s and a birth parent’s lives.

I wish this recently reunited family continued luck in their unfolding reunion story.

+

If you are an Adoptee — please take ALL possible DNA tests.

Please see:
DNA Testing

While this KSS Adoptee was extraordinarily lucky to find her biological family so quickly through DNA testing, for most Adoptees, DNA testing is a LONG game. Please be sure to read the information about our recommendations regarding reaching out to DNA matches on our DNA page above.

Good luck with your own DNA testing!