Suicidal at Seven
by JS LEE At seven years old, I already knew to protect my innermost feelings. I loved to write. A relative gifted me a locked diary—which I treasured but did not trust. In a household with surveillance cameras in bedrooms, boundaries weren’t up for discussion. I positioned strings in desk drawers so I’d know if […]
Racial Isolation and Perpetuating Whiteness
by JS LEE At five years old, my white adoptive mother was already asking me to choose between my race and hers. “Do you think you’ll marry an Asian man someday?” I shook my head—not because I hated Asian boys but because I’d never met one. I was adopted into a large, white family, as […]
The Pain of Infertility and Why I Won’t Adopt
by JS LEE Like every story about a woman who tries to have children and can’t, mine is deeply personal. It begins with my own adoption. I arrived from Korea at six months old, expected to be one of those clean slate babies with no memories or trauma. The family I was adopted to had […]