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Korean Adoptee Leaves Wisconsin Behind to Fight for Change in Her Native Country

Adoptee Solidarity Korea

Laura Klunder grew up in Franklin, Wisconsin in the 1990s, and went on to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In many ways, her suburban childhood was like many of her peers. But, in one fundamental way, her life was different from nearly everyone she knew.

Klunder was born in South Korea and was an international adoptee who came to this country at the height of an adoption boom from that country.

Today, she lives in Seoul and is a leading activist in the effort to reduce - or even end - the practice of international adoptions. Klunder is a representative for Adoptee Solidarity Korea.

Her story - and that of the movement of which she is a part - was featured in the New York Times magazine earlier this month in the article Why a Generation of Adoptees Is Returning to South Korea.

"As more adoptees come back, and we talk about our experiences, I feel like Koreans are curious about our experiences as adult adoptees, and they do want to learn what they can do to help unwed mothers here in Korea," Klunder said to Lake Effect in an interview.