Ghosts in the Mirror
My adoptive mother tells me I was precocious enough as a toddler to ask if I came from her belly. She says this was a sign I comprehended my adoption so early she never had to explain it to me.
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Kimberly Rooney 高小荣
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Christina Berke is a writer and educator based in Los Angeles. She’s working on "Well, Body": a memoir in vignettes on body image, eating disorders, and childhood trauma. An excerpt of this was longlisted with Disquiet Literary International. Say hola at www.christinaberke.com.
Debtors to a Mercy We Never Begged For
No, home is not as simple as the heart-shaped sandwiches Ma placed into my lunch bag on Valentine’s Day or the way my father confessed to listening to me sing shower showtunes or washing a car beside my brother as the summer sun beat down.
The Mothership
Most of all, I hoped they’d see how well I turned out and regret ever sending me away.
The Beat Goes On
If the average lifespan is roughly 76 years, then that one muscle, the size of a fist, beats 2,796,192,000 times. It never quits, until it quits.
What She Kept
I hand-wrote my mother a letter entirely in hangul. It looked like a child wrote it, which was because a child wrote it.
What to Read If You Want to Understand Adoptees
I was an adopted only child who taught myself to read at the age of three. Books were my world, my companions and my solace. I gravitated towards stories of…
The Blood of My Mother
For as long as I remember, I have had stories in my head and instead of writing them down, I had imaginary conversations with people.
You’re Not My Birth Mother, But Thanks
But then someone appeared: a woman. Forty-ish. Brown hair. Casual sweater and jeans. An apologetic grimace.
Call for Submissions: November ’23 Adoptee Awareness Month
We’re accepting essays by adoptees from 11/1 through 12/31. Curated by Lauren J. Sharkey, publication in November 2023.