Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
 A Poignant, Remarkable Book! December 14, 1999
Melanie@dillonadopt.com (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
After reading this book from cover to cover I realized I was shaking. Written in their own words-the book conveys the heartwrenching decisions these birthmothers must face. As a Korean adoptee who is just beginning to search for my birthfamily this book not only opened my heart, but also my eyes to the social stigma in Korean and the reasons so many of these women relinquish their children. It does not offer all the answers to the many questions surrounding adoption, but it does offer a captivating look at adoption from the birthmother's perspective. I recommend this book to anyone touched by adoption whether international or domestic, especially couples contemplating adoption, adoptive parents and older adoptees. It is a powerful and compelling glimpse into a side of adoption often overlooked. This is definitely not a book to pass up.
Sensitive & Reassuring for All Korean Adoptees June 19, 2001
Sharon K. Martinez (Ansbach, Germany)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
I bought this book for my Korean-born son who is now age 19. The letters in "I Wish for You a Beautiful Life" were written by birth mothers who had their babies in Ae Ran Won, a home for unwed mothers in Seoul and then gave them up for adoption. The letters written by these birth mothers and the records kept by Ae Ran Won will provide a link for Korean Adoptees to find their birth mothers later in life. This is not the case for my son as he was abandoned near a Police Box in Seoul in December 1982 at the age of 15 months. There is very little hope for abandoned children to find their birth mothers/families. That is why I feel this book can be so helpful for abandoned children. Since they can never know for certain, this book can provide some knowledge of background circumstances (cultural and personal) for unwed Korean birth mothers in general. Then, perhaps, these children can feel some measure of comfort in knowing that they were not "rejected" but will indeed be loved forever by their birth mothers. I read the book from cover to cover before presenting it to my son. I had to make three attempts to read it as I was overcome with tears each time. My son was touched to receive it and promised that he would read it during a quiet time when he can reflect on his emotions.
Sensitive, emotional and thought provoking; a treasure. February 28, 1999
E. Corrado (Thompson, CT)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Readers are extremely priviledged to have the rare opportunity to read such personal letters of Korean birthmothers. The anguish, pain, and emotional suffering of the women is in stark contrast to their joy of just giving birth. Yet, their faith and hope for a bright future for their children is so vivid. Every adoptive parent should make a point of reading and learning from this captivating book. It clearly puts into perspective how very real and selfless the birthmother's are. A humbling experience to read, with much to be learned, from the words of Korean birthmothers, whose children are not physically with them but to whom they always will be connected spiritually.
This is what birthmother's pain is really like. June 9, 1999
Heather Lowe (Corning NY)
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
As a birthmom whose infant son is in an open adoption, my heart cried out when I read this book. These Korean birthmothers are half a world away, in a very different society, and yet they share all the emotions I did when it came time to relinquish my child. The pain of entrusting a child to adoption is like no other. This book helps explain the immensity of that pain.
Moving and Powerful November 16, 1999
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
This book is wonderful, but be aware that it isn't for children, the emotions and complexity of issues require a more mature frame of reference. For adoptees, irregardless of being Korean, it is one of the saddest things to be reminded of the day your parents decided to put you up for adoption. This book gives you the state of mind of the mothers as they make the most difficult decision in their lives.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 21
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