Holt's 70th Anniversary...
Thank you and Congratulations to Holt for serving the needs
of children for 70 long years!
So sorry I couldn't make it to this momentous occasion in Seoul on September 26,
2025.
While there are some conflicting voices for and against the intercountry
adoption program practiced by Korea for 70 years, I am truly grateful that I
was given a new chance at life to be who I am today.
The memories of my true parents in John and Margaret
Morrison, and my four siblings that loved me, I can't thank enough for the
family that I was blessed with. And the opportunity the adoption has brought me
to the point of being a voice for homeless children in Korea through MPAK.
I refuse to bow to the negative narratives that claim that
we were taken from our birth parents and sold overseas, and robbed of our
identities, language, and culture.
I refuse to believe such nonsense claim that adoption was a
form of neocolonialism by a strong nation against a weaker nation.
I refuse to believe that adoption causes separation of
children from their biological families. Instead, adoption is a response to
already separated children that need homes. It was meant to be a solution to
already separated and traumatized children.
I refuse, because I know, and have lived and experienced
what our lives would have been like in orphanages, with little or no chance of
being reunited with birth parents, which so many orphans want.
I know because I lived in an orphanage for eight years
before being adopted. And I have met countless numbers of orphans that long for
families of their own but can't.
Agencies like Holt and others deserve praise rather than blame
and criticism, because they responded to the needs of the children when nobody
wanted them or cared.
Unfortunately, there have been some mistakes in matching
some children with parents that did not qualify to raise them, resulting in abuses,
discrimination, conflicts and lots of pain. These were experienced by many
adoptees.
We should not ignore these tragedies. However, these
imperfections, while very unfortunate, do not represent all adoptions. Significant
majority of adoptions turned out well.
We must acknowledge the fact that just as there are
imperfect biological parents, there are imperfect adoptive parents. The laws
have evolved over the years to improve the process of finding better qualified
parents, but at the expense of fewer adoptions taking place, which is also an
unfortunate byproduct. In the old days when the laws governing the processes
were immature. Can you fault the acceptable practices by agencies or the
government with today's laws?
I'd rather side with the positive side of adoption and move
on with what's been given in my life. Of course, I could have chosen to be
negative like many other adoptees, and I certainly had many reasons to. Not against
the Morrison family, but the cultural practices in Korea that discriminated
against the people with orphan backgrounds. Unfortunately, this evil still exists
today. It's a choice that one must make
and move on and make yourself a better person. I can't change what was done for
me in the past.
If you continue to wallow in the negative and blame others
for your predicament, that is a very unfortunate choice. Pick yourself up and
move on. Put the past behind you as it will continue to hold you down.
One must realize that the real root of the problem lies with
unwed mothers, for whatever the reasons, they decided to give children up for
adoption, and in many cases simply abandoned them. Can you fault the agencies
that responded to the needs of the children? Doesn’t the blame also lie with
unwed parents for giving up or abandoning their children in the first
place? I am all for changing the culture
where unwed parents can keep and raise their children and the campaign should
be made to change this culture. However,
this is not done. Instead, the agencies are being blamed. It’s all about misplaced blame.
As for me, I thank you, Holt, for serving the children for
the past 70 years with the vision of Harry Holt, "Every Child Deserves a
Home of His Own." While you were robbed of the adoption duties by the
government, keep holding onto this principle and may you continue to advocate
for the Least of These Children that Jesus spoke about.
Happy 70th Anniversary!
