Customer Reviews

I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean Birth Mothers of Ae Ran Won to Their Children

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading this book from cover to cover I realized I was shaking. Written in their own words-the book conveys the heartwrenching decisions these birthmothers must face. As a Korean adoptee who is just beginning to search for my birthfamily this book not only opened my heart, but also my eyes to the social stigma in Korean and the reasons so many of these women relinquish their children. It does not offer all the answers to the many questions surrounding adoption, but it does offer a captivating look at adoption from the birthmother's perspective. I recommend this book to anyone touched by adoption whether international or domestic, especially couples contemplating adoption, adoptive parents and older adoptees. It is a powerful and compelling glimpse into a side of adoption often overlooked. This is definitely not a book to pass up.

Readers are extremely priviledged to have the rare opportunity to read such personal letters of Korean birthmothers. The anguish, pain, and emotional suffering of the women is in stark contrast to their joy of just giving birth. Yet, their faith and hope for a bright future for their children is so vivid. Every adoptive parent should make a point of reading and learning from this captivating book. It clearly puts into perspective how very real and selfless the birthmother's are. A humbling experience to read, with much to be learned, from the words of Korean birthmothers, whose children are not physically with them but to whom they always will be connected spiritually.

I bought this book for my Korean-born son who is now age 19. The letters in "I Wish for You a Beautiful Life" were written by birth mothers who had their babies in Ae Ran Won, a home for unwed mothers in Seoul and then gave them up for adoption. The letters written by these birth mothers and the records kept by Ae Ran Won will provide a link for Korean Adoptees to find their birth mothers later in life. This is not the case for my son as he was abandoned near a Police Box in Seoul in December 1982 at the age of 15 months. There is very little hope for abandoned children to find their birth mothers/families. That is why I feel this book can be so helpful for abandoned children. Since they can never know for certain, this book can provide some knowledge of background circumstances (cultural and personal) for unwed Korean birth mothers in general. Then, perhaps, these children can feel some measure of comfort in knowing that they were not "rejected" but will indeed be loved forever by their birth mothers. I read the book from cover to cover before presenting it to my son. I had to make three attempts to read it as I was overcome with tears each time. My son was touched to receive it and promised that he would read it during a quiet time when he can reflect on his emotions.

I purchased the book out of curiosity, since I am a Korean adoptee. I have mixed feelings about the book, and don't feel as though I am part of the book's targeted audience.

This book didn't really answer any of my questions about my adoption.

Still, the letters are touching, moving, beautiful... I cried while reading them. It gave me emotional release in the sense that it moved me to tears.

I think that the letters in this book bring more closure for the birth mothers and the adoptive mothers than they do for the Korean adoptees. Birth mothers are given a chance to justify their decision, to explain themselves, to put into words how and why they reached this agonizing choice. Adoptive mothers are commended, thanked, and applauded, told "You did the right thing, thank you so much!"

But what about the Korean adoptees? Each Korean woman writes an anonymous letter to her child. Are we to pretend that one of these letters is meant for us? These are details about other adoptions, not our own adoption. And they are about adoptions that took place in the 1990s, a lot later than in the 1970s and 1980s when most American Korean adoptees came to the U.S.

Because I was born in '81 and these letters were written in the 90's, I felt really disconnected from these women. If I could have ready even 1 letter written to 1 woman's daughter in the year I was born, I could have more easily imagined or felt like I was reading a letter written from my birth mother to me.

For mothers who have adopted Korean children, this book is wonderful. But for Korean adoptees, it leaves our many questions unanswered.

Still, Korean adoptees might enjoy it. It is an emotional read that will make you cry.

As a birthmom whose infant son is in an open adoption, my heart cried out when I read this book. These Korean birthmothers are half a world away, in a very different society, and yet they share all the emotions I did when it came time to relinquish my child.

The pain of entrusting a child to adoption is like no other. This book helps explain the immensity of that pain.

This book is wonderful, but be aware that it isn't for children, the emotions and complexity of issues require a more mature frame of reference. For adoptees, irregardless of being Korean, it is one of the saddest things to be reminded of the day your parents decided to put you up for adoption. This book gives you the state of mind of the mothers as they make the most difficult decision in their lives.

As an adoptive mother of a Korean daughter, I have heard many people ask, "How can those mothers 'give up their children'?" The letters collected for this book have been written by Korean mothers who loved their children so much as to offer their children a loving and supportive environment. These women did not "give up their children." They made a difficult, compassionate, loving decision for their children. This collection of letters is a helpful resource for answering the questions of inquisitive, less than polite, friends, acquaintances and even family members. Even more, it has given me, the other mother of my child, a small window in which to understand her biological mother.

As a Korean adopted person, I was so moved by this book of letters. It was great to know how some of these mothers felt about giving up their children. I hope one of those mothers was mine!

I highly recommend this book! email me if you have any questions. Thank you.

I have 3 children adopted from Korea and this book was a wonderful read that brought me to tears. I already had lots of information on adoption in Korea, but this offered me a greater insight on culture and the stigma surrounding a very complex situation. I applaud the bravery of the birthmothers. I cannot imagine the great sadness they must have giving up someone they loved for nine months and knowing they can never see that person again. This book allows you to feel what they are feeling. Thanks for a wonderful read.

First of all, you would have had to have lost a child to feel the true meaning of this book. This is a rare glimpse of the silent voices everyone has an opinion on. Here, the soft agony of a mother's soul - whether she is a mother for a day or for decades - is given a rare place in print. We hear much about morality regarding out of marriage births; funny how all we hear from the mother's in this book is the love they never got a chance to give.