Common birth family search post failures.
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Korean Adoptees, their spouses and descendants often make online posts regarding a birth family search for themselves or others they are seeking. Some common post failures are below.
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Below is a fictional example of a birth family search post that might commonly appear on a Facebook birth family search forum. The post is written from the perspective of a fictional biological sibling who is not adopted and is searching for an Adoptee sibling. It serves as an example of what NOT to do, as it FAILS for a number of reasons:
“I am looking for my Korean mother’s daughter named Jin Hee LEE. She was born on January 1st, 1962 in Incheon and adopted to the US.”
WHY is this post a FAILURE?
This post is a failure, because:
1. It fails to take into account that almost ALL Korean Adoptees’ names and birthdates were altered / changed by Korean Adoption Agencies in the process of adoption. Most Korean Adoptees do NOT grow up knowing their real Korean names and / or birthdates. An Adoptee once known as “Jin Hee LEE” likely has NO idea this was once their original Korean name. Likewise, this Adoptee likely has had their birthdate and city of birth falsified as well. Often, even Adoptees’ year of birth was changed to make them appear younger or older and therefore more appealing for a specific prospective adoptive couple to adopt. Most Korean Adoptees were adopted as babies or very young children, meaning that unless a child was significantly older when adopted, she or he is NOT likely to know or remember their real Korean name/s and birthdate/s. This routine level of falsification means that an Adoptee would NOT likely be able to identify themselves from the information in this post.
2.The post does not say if anyone related to “Jin Hee LEE” has taken any DNA test/s, and if so, which one/s. Common DNA tests which Korean Adoptees take are: 23 and Me, Ancestry, FTDNA (Family Tree DNA, the test distributed by the organization 325Kamra), and MyHeritage. Korean Adoptees also sometimes take the KNPA (Korean National Police Association) test, either in Korea or at a Korean Consulate in their Western country of adoption).
Due to the common erasure of a child’s real identity in the process of adoption by orphanages and Korean Adoption Agencies during the process of adoption, DNA testing is often considered to be the ONLY truth when it comes to finding missing family member/s.
3. It is unclear from the post how is it known that “Jin Hee LEE” was adopted to the US. Often Korean Adoption Agencies LIED to birth parents who later sought the children they had relinquished about which country their children had been sent for adoption. There is no way from this post to know for sure why the person making the post believes that the country to which “Jin Hee LEE” was the US. Was the Korean birth mother told by a Korean Adoption Agency that her daughter was adopted to the US? Or does the Korean birth mother have some proof of this? If so, what proof would that be?
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How could this post be improved?
FAILED POST:
“I am looking for my Korean mother’s daughter named Jin Hee LEE. She was born on January 1st, 1962 in Incheon and adopted to the US.”
A BETTER post might be:
“I am looking for my Korean mother’s daughter, who was originally named “Jin Hee LEE” and born on January 1st, 1962 in Incheon. However, this name and birthdate may have been changed by the Adoption Agencies in Korea and the West. My Korean mother, who currently lives in Seoul, has taken the DNA test FTDNA and we are waiting for a match. My Korean mother was told by the Korean Adoption Agency Holt in Korea that her daughter was adopted to the US. However, we cannot verify this independently. If you have taken FTDNA, please check your DNA test results to see if you have any close matches. My Korean mother took FTDNA in February 2026, but does not yet have any close matches. If my Korean mother takes additional DNA tests, I will update this post. I can be reached by private message and will be sure to periodically check my ‘message requests’ on Facebook.”
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Below is a fictional example of a birth family search post that might commonly appear on a Facebook birth family search forum. The post is written from the perspective of an Adoptee, who is seeking their Korean birth parent/s. It serves as an example of what NOT to do, as it FAILS for a number of reasons:
“Hi! My name is John Kim Lewis, and I am looking for my Korean biological parents. I was born on April 2nd, 1983 in Seoul. My Korean name at my Korean Adoption Agency was “Kim Min Jun”. If you are my biological parents, please contact me!”
WHY is this post a FAILURE?
This post is a failure, because:
1.Well, first of all, guess what, people? Most Koreans speak KOREAN— NOT English! Having a purely English only post is pretty meaningless for a Korean audience. Most Korean birth parents are older, and are probably NOT regular users of translation apps. Know your audience, and create a REAL birth family search post in both English and KOREAN which will actually gain traction in the country you are targeting — KOREA! This may require you to hire a translator, or to at the very least use AI to translate your post to polite Korean.
As a real world example, I once advised a KSS Adoptee to create a birth family search post for a specific Facebook birth family search group in both Korean and English. She was one of the few Adoptees whom I had advised to do so who actually took my advice, and did so. She cross-posted her KOREAN and English birth family search post to a different Korean Adoptee birth family search forum, and a Korean police officer saw it and ended up helping her find her birth father! The Korean police officer later said he reached out to this Adoptee specifically because her post was in KOREAN! Imagine that — Koreans reading KOREAN!!!
2. The Adoptee assumes that he was ACTUALLY born in Seoul, when he is likely just obtaining this information from his likely falsified adoption paperwork.
Most Korean Adoptees do NOT grow up knowing their real Korean names, birthdates, or cities of birth. Most Korean Adoptees were adopted as babies or very young children, meaning that unless a child was significantly older when adopted, she or he is NOT likely to know or remember their real Korean name/s, birthdate/s, and city of birth. This routine level of falsification means that an Adoptee is NOT likely be able to accurately convey their personal information in this kind of post. Readers may assume that the information is accurate, and rule themselves out based on potentially FALSE information provided by the Adoptee.
3.The post does not say if the person posting, John Kim Lewis, has taken any DNA test/s, and if so, which one/s. Common DNA tests which Korean Adoptees take are: 23 and Me, Ancestry, FTDNA (Family Tree DNA, the test distributed by the organization 325Kamra), and MyHeritage. Korean Adoptees also sometimes take the KNPA (Korean National Police Association) test, either in Korea or at a Korean Consulate in their Western country of adoption).
Due to the common erasure of a child’s real identity in the process of adoption by orphanages and Korean Adoption Agencies during the process of adoption, DNA testing is often considered to be the ONLY truth when it comes to finding missing family member/s.
While DNA testing is not NEARLY as popular a thing in Korea as it is in the West, IF a Korean birth parent has taken a DNA test, it is most likely to be either FTDNA (due to the free distribution of this test to Korean birth parents in Korea by the organization 325Kamra) or the KNPA (Korean National Police Academy) DNA test, which can be taken at a police station in Korea or at a Korean consulate in a Western country.
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How could this post be improved?
FAILED POST:
“Hi! My name is John Kim Lewis, and I am looking for my Korean biological parents. I was born on April 2nd, 1983 in Seoul. My Korean name at my Korean Adoption Agency was “Kim Min Jun”. If you are my biological parents, please contact me!”
A BETTER post might be:
KOREAN:
안녕하세요.
저의 미국 이름은 John Kim Lewis이며, 1983년 봄에 태어났습니다. 한국 입양기관인 KSS의 입양 서류에는 제가 서울에서 태어났다고 기록되어 있으나, 현재로서는 이를 독립적으로 확인할 방법이 없습니다.
KSS에 기록된 저의 한국 이름은 김민준이지만, 이 이름 역시 입양 절차 과정에서 KSS에 의해 변경되었을 가능성이 있습니다.
저는 지금까지 다음과 같은 DNA 검사를 받았습니다.
23andMe
AncestryDNA
MyHeritage DNA
FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA)
대한민국 경찰청(KNPA) DNA 검사
현재까지는 가까운 친족으로 확인되는 DNA 일치자를 찾지 못했습니다.
만약 귀하께서 저와 가까운 DNA 일치자로 확인되신다면, 제가 사용 중인 모든 DNA 검사 서비스의 사용자 이름은 “John K. Lewis”입니다.
부디 Facebook 개인 메시지(비공개 메시지)를 통해 연락해 주시기 바랍니다. 저는 정기적으로 Facebook의 “메시지 요청(Message Requests)” 폴더를 확인하고 있습니다.
또한, 친가족 찾기 전용 이메일 주소로도 연락하실 수 있습니다.
JohnKLewisSearch@____.com
아래의 한국어 안내문을 참고해 주시기 바랍니다. 참고로 이 한국어 문장은 ChatGPT를 사용하여 번역되었으므로 완벽하지 않을 수 있습니다.
읽어주셔서 진심으로 감사드립니다.
ENGLISH:
Hello, my American name is ‘John Kim Lewis’ and I was born in Spring 1983. While my Korean adoption paperwork from KSS (my Korean Adoption Agency) says that I was born in Seoul, I cannot independently verify this. My Korean name at KSS was “Kim Min JUN” but this name could have been changed by KSS in the process of my adoption. I have taken the following DNA tests: 23 and Me, Ancestry, MyHeritage, FTDNA, and the KNPA DNA test. So far, I have no close DNA matches. If you come to find that you are a close DNA match to me, my username on all of my DNA accounts is “John K. Lewis”. Please contact me through private message on Facebook. I will be sure to periodically check my “message requests”. You can also contact me at this specific email address for birth family search: JohnKLewisSearch@____.com
Please see the Korean text. Please note that the Korean text was translated using ChatGPT, and may not be perfect. Thank you!”