Heather is a Korean adoptee (KAD). < Back Heather Lewis Contributor Heather Lewis, or 노 영 미 as her biological sisters have named her, was born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in the U.S. at six months old. Heather has had many professions: waitress, ballroom dance instructor, middle school English teacher, and her current role in operations. She has a master’s in English, a master’s in Critical Studies of Teaching English, and a master’s in business administration. She is a proud KAD (Korean ADoptee) and likes to explore identity through writing. She loves being married to “fake Dave Grohl” and raising her only daughter. Despite still not knowing her birthday, she’s sure she is a Capricorn. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lewie73

Tara, aka Om Sun Hui (OSH), is a Korean adoptee (KAD). < Back Tara Footner Founder Her everyday identity is an English language educator, which she has done for over 20 years in Japan, the U.S., and the U.A.E. to fuel her passion for travel and experiencing the world’s vastness. However, like most, OSH holds a number of other identities including writer. With the dream of writing since she was eight-years-old, OSH has written for April Magazine and contributed to various other online publications over the years. Yet, none have quite satisfied a desire to provide our community with a platform to share our collective experiences, showcase our many talents, and inspire each other to express ourselves openly in an otherwise dominated society. Therefore, OSH’s aim as founder of this online magazine is to offer an open and safe forum for our varied voices to be highlighted and heard. You can also follow Tara’s adventures here .

Personal essays are some of the most compelling pieces in existence. They share our deepest thoughts, feelings, and dreams. Essay Musings of a Middle-aged Matriarch: Finding my tribe There’s a sea of different people in this world. While everyone is unique and different, there are enough commonalities between us all to... Essay Heather Lewis What It Means To Be Asian in America: Recognizing and breaking the cycle of trauma The rise in hate crimes against the AAPI community has left many of us questioning not just our identity as Asian-Americans, but how we... Essay Vanessa Nguyen Artificial Habitat Growing up, I lived in one of those unremarkable suburban neighborhoods everyone has seen and no one remembers. Two-story houses.... Essay Cynthia Landesberg Musings of a Middle-aged Matriarch: How do you find joy? As adoptees, many of us have had to create our own joy. We have to work at joy because it doesn’t come naturally to us. We are too busy... Essay Heather Lewis Choosing Parenthood “I think, maybe, we should talk about starting a family,” my husband said one day, as we sat on the back porch of a winery north of our... Lifestyle Cynthia Landesberg Musings of a Middle-aged Matriarch: Looking exotic sitting at Cracker Barrel I was adopted into a small farming community with one blinking stop light. For all my life, I was surrounded by people who did not look... Essay Heather Lewis 1 2 3 4 5

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Jon is a Korean adoptee (KAD). < Back Jon Oaks Web Specialist Jon, aka 백승찬 (Baik Seung Chan), is a KAD currently living in the Detroit area. He is an award-winning professor of mathematics with over 17 years of teaching and tutoring experience. He values equity and believes that learning should be equitable for everyone. He is passionate about what he does, and his goal is to make sure every student knows that he cares about them. On a tour of Seoul in 2018 during his first trip back to Korea since being adopted, one of his friends gave him the nickname Prof. Seung Chan. The name has stuck with him as a reminder that he should be proud of who he is—past and present. He now uses the name Prof. Seung Chan on his weekly podcast with his friend Nick Ha. His hobbies include going to Detroit Pistons games, eating tacos, and drinking the occasional bottle of soju. One of his goals is to eventually visit every MLB Stadium and go to Paris when he retires.

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The creativity of our community knows no bounds. Come here to find the stories we write. Fiction & Poetry Appearances That night, as she stood alone on the water’s edge, the expanse of the ocean before her felt as dark and infinite as the universe. A soft... Fiction & Poetry Samantha Der Poems Time Time flies by In the blink of an eye How should I spend my day So many things that I could do But in my bed i just lay Being... Fiction & Poetry Lauren Kofalt Are You Me? The Noodles That Tie Us I loved my shirt With three pockets of color Gym shoes Blue shorts And black hair That flopped over My gold-rimmed glasses I was ready... Fiction & Poetry Samantha Der Poems Nothing What can you do when there’s nothing to do The sun shines bright and the sky so blue Yet sitting inside thinking of you It seems... Fiction & Poetry Lauren Kofalt All the Home Views Penny and Mimi raced around the house, climbed up beds and clamored up couches to look out every window. The children were excited to see... Fiction & Poetry Samantha Der Yuletide Solstice December I will leave you still flush from April and July, a fresh scar unveiled, an amniotic window tender not porous. taught, fragile,... Fiction & Poetry A.D. Herzel 1 2 3 4 5

Lilly is a Chinese adoptee. < Back Lilly Schmaltz Contributor Lilly is an #importedAsian from China. She is currently obtaining her doctorate in cellular and molecular biology. Outside of her career, she advocates for human and adoptee rights. She aims to create safe and validating spaces for fellow transracial adoptees. Her love of reading and writing lead her to the world of book reviews and The Universal Asian . As a contributor, Lilly hopes to share her love of books that represent both hyphenated and imported Asians. You can find her at LillyFei.com

Adoptee voices are at the heart of our Universal Asian community. We strive to keep this a safe space for all. Adoptee Voices Kira Omans Talks About 'Him': Challenging the Reality You Know “Him” (2024) is now streaming on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime. Tomorrow marks the close of another AAPI Heritage Month, and the... Entertainment Ella Wu Nanchang Project Helps Chinese Adoptees Search For Heritage As May draws to a close, so does AAPI Heritage Month — a time to celebrate culture, identity, and history. But for adoptees like myself,... Adoptees Ella Wu An Adoptee’s Reaction to ‘Joy Ride’ (2023) Available in theaters July 7. “Joy Ride” hits like a solid punch to that white kid’s face: satisfying, but maybe not quite right. For... Entertainment Ella Wu Artificial Habitat Growing up, I lived in one of those unremarkable suburban neighborhoods everyone has seen and no one remembers. Two-story houses.... Essay Cynthia Landesberg Book Review: 'The Global Orphan Adoption System' by Dr. Kyung-eun Lee "The Global Orphan Adoption System: South Korea’s Impact on Its Origin and Development" by Dr. Kyung-eun Lee is an informative and... Adoptees OSH Living as a Returned Migrant in Korea (Part 2 of 2) Reposted from Ildaro.com As Koreans from the diaspora who have returned to the motherland we are acknowledged by the government as part... World 이영숙 Kristin R. Pak 1 2 3 4 5

This page is full of all things life, love, and laughter. Lifestyle Introducing Angela Wu Angela Wu is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Empowerment Coach who is passionate about de-stigmatizing mental health in the... Lifestyle OSH Choosing Parenthood “I think, maybe, we should talk about starting a family,” my husband said one day, as we sat on the back porch of a winery north of our... Lifestyle Cynthia Landesberg A #hyphenatedAsians POV: Christine Ha Christine Ha is a powerhouse of creativity and resilience. She was the first-ever blind contestant and winner of Gordon Ramsey’s amateur... Lifestyle Haiku Kwon Food: Truly colorblind glue As I walked the streets in the Asian part of Rome near Termini Station, the Asian stores were mostly empty, perhaps as a result of COVID... Lifestyle OSH My Thoughts on Adoption: From an Asian American woman without children I had always dreamed of having children. I grew up in a big family with lots of siblings, relatives, and cousins. There were so many... Lifestyle Samantha Der Finding True Belonging with Sun Mee Personal Story Transitioning lives I was 3½ years old when I was adopted from Korea by my German parents, and was raised in a... Adoptees Sun Mee Martin 1 2 3 4

Ella is a Chinese adoptee. < Back Ella Wu Managing Editor She was born in China and grew up on the U.S. East Coast. She is an actress, writer, and filmmaker, finding inspiration in the world around her. She has a passion for storytelling, particularly stories that highlight any of the endless facets of the Asian/Asian-American experience. She is currently based in Washington, D.C., but has made it a goal to travel to every corner of the world.

Kara is a Korean adoptee (KAD). < Back Kara Bos Contributor Kara Bos (Kang Misuk) is an #importedAsian from Korea to America, and is now a Dutchie—living in Amsterdam with her Dutch husband and two amazing children. Kara is an adventure-seeker discovering the world one country at a time (more than 50 so far!), an entrepreneur running a drowning prevention program Swim4Survival , and through her journey has become a resilient spokesperson for adoptees’ rights. She is determined to change the rhetoric of the more than 200,000 Korean adoptees searching for their identities and past; while also hoping to change the narrative of the definition of what adoption means to the average individual. Furthermore, she is a woman, wife, and mom, trying to do her best at all three of those while not sacrificing any of them.

What's happening in the world? How does the Asian diaspora fit into the world of the past and present? Where did we start, and how far have we come? World Introducing Studio ATAO’s ‘Food Systems 101’ Studio ATAO is raising funds for their first food education program “Food Systems 101: An Introduction to the Politics of Food &... World Ella Wu Book Review: 'The Global Orphan Adoption System' by Dr. Kyung-eun Lee "The Global Orphan Adoption System: South Korea’s Impact on Its Origin and Development" by Dr. Kyung-eun Lee is an informative and... Adoptees OSH Living as a Returned Migrant in Korea (Part 2 of 2) Reposted from Ildaro.com As Koreans from the diaspora who have returned to the motherland we are acknowledged by the government as part... World 이영숙 Kristin R. Pak Human Rights: My life as a migrant adoptee, 2018 (Part 1 of 2) Reposted from Ildaro.com Introduction: As someone who became a migrant through intercountry adoption, Kristin Pak has a unique... World 이영숙 Kristin R. Pak Dialogues With Adoptees: Let’s make adoptees’ rights mainstream Reposted from The Korea Times This article is the 30th in a series about Koreans adopted abroad. Apparently, many Koreans never expected... Adoptees Dr. Kyung-eun Lee Dialogues With Adoptees: The systematization of ‘child exports’ for economic and political aims Reposted from The Korea Times This is the 29th article of the series. It is time to turn our attention to the least discussed, but the... Adoptees Dr. Kyung-eun Lee 1 2 3 4 5

Lauren is a Korean adoptee (KAD). < Back Lauren Burke Contributor Lauren (정미나) is an #importedAsian from Korea to the U.S. Her professional background is in financial analysis and management, but when the world paused in 2020, she was able to pick up her passion for writing again. She enjoys the practice of free-writing, in addition to writing song lyrics, and now, as a contributor for The Universal Asian . You can find Lauren engaged most often with the adoptee community, opening up about life as a Korean adoptee in the U.S., and what it’s like experiencing a birth family search process. She is also a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certified instructor and hopes to use that knowledge by returning to Korea someday, even if only for a chapter of her life. Lauren loves to connect and communicate with people, and hopes to use writing as a means to help others share their story. You can find her talking about adoption, BTS, and Korean food by following her on social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsjungmeena FB: https://www.facebook.com/itsjungmeena