My name is Jan and I was adopted at age 4 1/2 to a family in Switzerland - along with my older brother. Although I do not have any memories of the time in Korea and the first year in Switzerland I knew pretty soon that I will search for my birthmother.

I started in 1984 or 1985 by sending some letters. At first I wrote to the Korean Embassy in Berne but all I received were some promotional material about Korea. That was not the information I was looking for. The next step was the adoption agency. Here in Switzerland this agency is called "Terre des Homme". There I had more success. I received a file from the agency with some details about me and my brother.

Unfortunately the details on the files were pretty the same. We were told by the agency and by our parents that we were full orphans. But my brother and I knew and never talked about it. We had a birthmother... With those files on hand I thought that the search might be easier than I ever thought. I continued my efforts and put a lot of strength into this search.

In 1990 I participated at the YWCA summerschool and there I met Korean adoptees for the first time. There were so many from the Netherlands. During that stay (three weeks only) I got my paperwork with me and one day we went to the K.S.S. (Korea Social Service).

But we were hardly in the building when I had some really bad feelings. And when it was my turn the director himself told me what was more of less.

How I found her

In 1994 I participated at the CCEJ World Conference For Young Koreans Living Abroad. It took place in August 1994 and started in Tokyo, Japan. There were delegations from many countries all over the world and the group of Swiss participants were the only Korean adoptees at this conference.

After Tokyo we went to Osaka, travelled then back to Seoul where we took some coaches and went down to Kyung-ju. We went on a sight-seeing tour through Korea, stayed overnight in a small village with traditional houses (it was very hot...) and watched some traditional Korean folkdances.

Back in Seoul we stayed at first at the National Reunification Center where we held some conferences and panel-discussions about how the reunification could be supported and how it should work. Later we also went on a trip to the DMZ (De-militarised Zone) at the border to North Korea. That time Kim Sung-Il just died and for that reason we were not allowed to go into Panmunjom. But I knew that place from a previous visit (YWCA 1990).

During that stay in the National Reunification Center I was interviewed by a journalist of the Chosun-Ilbo, which is one of the national newspapers. And on August 16, 1999 the following article appeared:

And the very day my family contacted me over the phone. I was almost paralyzed and after three hours of waiting I was there with my family. My birthmother came along with my two aunts and some cousins. I left the conference (it was the night before the last day...) and went to my aunt's flat in Seoul. We talked a lot (with the help of my small dictionary) and since I only knew a little bit Korean I was only able to get some information. The next day we went to the Chosun-Ilbo building in Seoul (thank god that my uncle owns a taxi...) and we met the journalist to thank him for his article. I was interviewed again and another article about my reunion appeared on August 19, 1999.

Jan Wenger