Introduction: From Invisible Mothers to Virtual Mothering

Abstract

In 1994, a few months before I left South Korea to attend graduate school in the US, my mother told me that she wished that some Americans would adopt me, and support me, as if I were their own daughter, during my stay. I was puzzled by her seemingly outrageous wish, and asked, “How can I be adopted when you’re still alive?” She said, “That doesn’t matter; there have been cases.” While my memories of that day have become fuzzy, I recall her saying, “You can tell them I am dead.” I was devastated by her motherly death wish, driven by the hope of her daughter being adopted by unknown Americans.