Korean-born Darragh Hannan, adopted by an American family at just eight weeks old, recently found her older sister, Jee Won Ha, through DNA testing on MyHeritage. Nearly four decades after leaving South Korea, Hannan will return for the first time to meet her sister, who was adopted by a family in Belgium, in Seoul on October 25.
In an interview with the Korea Daily, Hannan shared that she and her sister are hoping to locate other biological family members, including their mother, and deepen their relationship with each other.
The following is an edited excerpt from the interview:
[Korean sisters meet for first time after 39 years following separate adoptions to U.S. and Belgium]
– What was your initial reaction upon receiving the email from your sister that said, ‘Hey, I think we are sisters?’
“My first feeling was disbelief. I had taken a DNA test about six or eight years ago and had kind of forgotten about it. So when I received the email saying, ‘We might be sisters. Would you like to chat?’ I was stunned. I thought, ‘Wait, what? Really?’ It was just a random Thursday morning; I had just arrived at work and opened my computer. It was definitely a shock.”
– When was this?
“This was in May.”
– I heard this will be your first time meeting in person. Have you two been in touch via phone or other means?
“Yes, we’ve been messaging and calling on WhatsApp. She’s about six hours ahead of me, which can make things a bit challenging, but it’s not too big of a difference. We manage to communicate regularly through calls and video chats.”
– Is that how you decided to meet up in person in Korea?
“Yes, our goal had always been to visit Korea. It was just a matter of coordinating our schedules—her work, her family, and mine. This was the best time for both of us, considering all our other commitments. Plus, we’ve heard that a Korean summer can be very hot and humid. It will be our first time there, so it holds a lot of significance for us in many ways. We’ll be there for 13 nights.”
– What are your key goals while you’re there? It seems your sister is particularly eager to find your birth mother.
“We’re both interested in finding additional biological family members. We’re certain there’s more out there; it’s just a matter of figuring out how to use the information we have to locate them, especially since we have a limited amount of time. However, our primary goal is simply to get to know each other better.”
– Did you share the news of finding your sister with your current family? If so, what were their reactions?
“Yes, I did. They were excited for me. I’m not sure if they felt the same level of disbelief, but by that point, we had already had a couple of video calls. I shared some screenshots of our conversations, and they laughed because they could tell that we were related. It was really exciting for them.”
– What was it like to be growing up in the U.S. with your family here?
“There was not a lot of diversity where I grew up, but I think this is true for a lot of adoptees growing up in America. That wasn’t something that I really noticed until I was much older. There were Korean cultural opportunities that were presented to me and my parents didn’t push this on me. They just followed my level of interest, which fluctuated. Sometimes I was very interested, and other times I wasn’t at all.”
– Did you miss your birth mother or did you blame her for abandoning?
“I never missed her and I never blamed her for anything. I was always told growing up that she gave me up because she wanted me to have a better life than she could provide for me. I still think that’s true. And I recognize that she was probably in a difficult position when she had me and had to make that choice. So I don’t blame her for the choice that she did make.”
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
