Name Reclamation for Transracial Korean Adoptee Returnees in the United States and Europe

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the experiences of transracial Korean adoptee returnees who were born in Korea, separated from their biological families, raised in the United States and three European countries by White families, and given an Anglicized or Germanic name at the time of their adoption. This study focused on participants’ journeys of reclaiming their Korean birth names and the various influences that factored into this decision. Data were collected from in-depth, semi-structured interviews (in-person or via Skype) and coded using grounded-theory methods that integrated a constructivist-interpretivist and critical epistemological paradigm . Participants (N = 12) were transracial Korean adoptees with ages ranging from 22 to 42 years (M = 32.67 years) who were between 0 and 88 months (M = 22.33 months) at the time of adoption, all of whom had returned to Korea. Results from the interviews revealed 11 axial categories and 2 overarching selective categories related to the name reclamation process: (a) name reclamation was part of a larger identity development process; (b) factors that prevented or slowed the name reclamation process. Limitations and future areas of research are discussed.