In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Nathan sits down with Sun Mee, a Korean adoptee raised in a white German family in a small town in southern Germany.

Adopted from South Korea at 3½ years old with little information about her biological family, Sun Mee learned early how to adapt. She disconnected from her Korean roots, pushed down difficult emotions, and embraced the role of the “grateful” and well-adjusted adoptee. But beneath the surface was a deeper sense of disconnection and questions about identity and belonging that eventually became impossible to ignore.

Sun Mee shares the identity rupture she experienced at 18, her decision to begin searching for her biological family, and the complicated emotions surrounding DNA testing and her return trips to Korea—experiences that brought moments of recognition alongside feelings of alienation.

We also explore a different side of adoptee healing: the body. Sun Mee discusses how somatic healing helped her reconnect with emotions she had spent years suppressing and ultimately changed the way she understood belonging—not simply as something to find in a country, culture, family, or community, but as something that can also be cultivated within ourselves.

That journey eventually led Sun Mee to found NUMARU, a holistic emotional wellbeing platform and international community for BIPOC adoptees. Through NUMARU, she works to create spaces where adoptees can process their emotions, make peace with the complexity of their stories, and explore what it means to belong on their own terms.

This is a conversation about adaptation, identity, the body, returning to Korea, and the complicated work of finding home—both within ourselves and with one another.

Link to Sun Mee's website: Numaru

Follow Sun Mee's work on Instagram

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

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If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Nathan sits down with Sara G., a Mexican adoptee whose story began within the foster care system.

Sara shares what it was like navigating foster care and adoption while also growing up separated from parts of her culture and identity. Her experiences eventually helped shape the path she chose as an adult: becoming a social worker and working within a system she once experienced from the other side.

Together, Nathan and Sara explore the complicated intersection of lived experience and professional work. What does it mean to support children and families when you know firsthand what it feels like to be the child in the system? And how does being an adoptee influence the way you see the work differently from those who only know it professionally?

Sara's story offers a perspective that is both personal and professional—one that challenges us to think about foster care and adoption not simply as systems designed to help children, but through the eyes of the people who actually lived through them.

Follow Sara on her Instagram!

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Nathan sits down with August, a Chinese adoptee raised in rural Central Pennsylvania, for an honest conversation about identity, belonging, and what it means to finally begin seeing your adoption story through a new lens.

August shares how the COVID-19 pandemic became a turning point in his life—his own "coming out of the fog" moment—as he began unpacking the ways adoption, race, and identity had shaped him. He also reflects on his journey as a queer adoptee, exploring how different parts of his identity intersect and influence one another.

The conversation also highlights August's involvement with Through a Different Lens (TADL), where he has helped create space for adoptee voices, community, and authentic storytelling.

This episode is a thoughtful exploration of identity, self-discovery, and the power of finding community with others who understand the adoptee experience.

August's adoption related Instagram: Here

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

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If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

What happens when DNA uncovers a story that feels almost too incredible to be real?

In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Sara shares her journey as a mixed-race adoptee raised in a white family, navigating questions of identity, belonging, and race that followed her throughout her life. Her path to discovering her biological father through DNA testing led to what can only be described as a Cinderella moment—an emotional reunion that gave her a glimpse of the connection she had always wondered about.

As this episode is released nearly one year after her father's passing, Sara reflects on the joy of finding him, the grief of losing him, and the lasting impact that relationship continues to have on her life.

Sara also opens up about the moment that brought her out of the adoption fog. Following the murder of George Floyd, she experienced grief and pain that she expected those closest to her to understand. Instead, her adoptive family's response forced her to confront difficult truths about race, identity, and what it meant to be a mixed-race adoptee in a family that could not fully see or understand her experience.

This conversation explores racial identity, late discovery, reunion, profound loss, and the complicated reality of loving the family that raised you while acknowledging the ways they may have fallen short. Sara's story is one of heartbreak, healing, and ultimately finding pieces of herself that had been missing for far too long. 

Sara's Instagram

Her tiktok is down but hopefully up soon!

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

For much of his life, Patrick Armstrong believed he had a fairly positive adoption experience. Raised in Indianapolis after being adopted from Korea, he spent decades navigating racial isolation while completely rejecting an important part of his identity—without fully realizing the impact it was having on him.

After dropping out of college, Patrick spent years traveling in search of purpose and trying to figure out who he was. But it wasn't until the convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise in anti-Asian hate, and the Black Lives Matter movement that something shifted. Those events became the catalyst for what Patrick describes as his "rupture"—a moment of awakening that forced him to confront his adoption, race, and identity in ways he never had before.

Over the past five years, Patrick has been unpacking the complexities of transracial adoption, embracing his Korean identity, and working toward becoming his most authentic and whole self. Along the way, he has discovered that healing isn't a destination but an ongoing practice.

Patrick also shares one of the most painful chapters of his journey: the possibility that he missed an opportunity to reconnect with his biological mother after waiting too long to respond to a letter she sent him. He reflects on the grief, regret, and hope that continue to shape his search and why he hasn't completely given up on the possibility of finding her again.

This conversation explores racial isolation, identity rejection, late-discovery adoptee consciousness, the lifelong process of healing, and the courage it takes to rediscover yourself after decades of living disconnected from who you truly are.

Hear more from Patrick on his own podcast Conversation Piece.

Patrick's socials: Instagram, Podcast

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

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If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

In this episode of Color Shift, we sit down with Lily, a Thai adoptee whose journey spans continents, recovery, and self-discovery. Born in Bangkok and spending her early years in foster care, Lily was adopted at age four by a white American family in Pennsylvania. Growing up in a home where she never felt a true sense of connection, she spent years searching for belonging and understanding her place in the world.

As a young adult, that search led her through addiction, loss, and some of the darkest chapters of her life. But through music, Lily found something powerful: a way to process her pain, reclaim her voice, and begin healing. What started as a lifeline became a purpose.

Today, Lily is an artist, recovery advocate, and co-founder of Adoptees & Addiction, a peer-led support community created specifically for adoptees navigating addiction and recovery. She has also spent years working in treatment, helping others find hope in their own recovery journeys. Along the way, she returned to Thailand to search for her birth mother and reconnect with the culture and identity that had been separated from her through adoption.

This conversation explores resilience, identity, addiction, healing, and the lifelong journey of belonging. Lily's story is a powerful reminder that even after years of feeling disconnected, it is possible to rediscover your roots, your voice, and yourself.

To learn more about the peer support group Lily co-founded, visit Adoptees & Addiction

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Maya shares her experience as a Cambodian adoptee raised by LGBTQ moms in Maine before eventually settling in Pennsylvania. Maya reflects on growing up at the intersection of adoption, race, and family, and how those experiences have shaped her sense of identity over time.

The conversation also explores her recent journey into family research, a search that led to an unexpected and deeply meaningful discovery. Along the way, Maya discusses belonging, connection, and the ways adoptees continue to piece together their stories throughout adulthood. It's a thoughtful conversation about family, identity, and what it means to find parts of yourself you never knew were missing.

Through A Different Lens: Instagram

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

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If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

For this episode of Color Shift, Nathan sits down with Sarah Myer, the acclaimed Korean American comic artist, author, and illustrator behind the award-winning graphic memoir Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story. Adopted from South Korea and raised in rural Maryland by a white family, Sarah shares the deeply personal experiences that shaped both their identity and creative voice. Through conversations about racism, bullying, fandom, cosplay, art, and belonging, Sarah opens up about the emotional journey that inspired Monstrous — a powerful coming-of-age story that has earned multiple starred reviews, award nominations, and recognition as one of the standout graphic memoirs of recent years. 

Beyond Monstrous, Sarah has become a rising force in the comics world, illustrating and creating cover art for several issues of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures and contributing to other major projects across the comics industry. In this episode, Sarah reflects on the intersection of adoptee identity, creativity, queer identity, and pop culture — and how art became both a refuge and a way to reclaim their story. 

You can find Sarah's work here at her website.  See their upcoming conventions they are attending, purchase some art and their book Monstrous! 

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Luciana shares her experience growing up as an Indonesian adoptee in rural East Texas, navigating identity, belonging, and the feeling of being “othered” in a conservative environment. She reflects on family complexity, racial awakening, and the process of “coming out of the fog” as she began recognizing how adoption and race shaped her lived experiences. 

After building community with other Asian transracial adoptees and returning to Indonesia in search of answers, Luciana uncovered truths about her story that challenged everything she thought she knew about her adoption. In this deeply thoughtful conversation, she speaks openly about grief, mental health, estrangement, healing, and the importance of creating space for adoptees to tell honest and nuanced stories about their lives. 

Luciana would love everyone to know that she has graduated from grad school with a Masters in Counseling.  If you would like to connect with Luciana you can email her at  [email protected]

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

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If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected] 

Vinh  was born in Vietnam, with Cambodian roots, and adopted into an Icelandic, Danish, and Swedish family, where he was raised in Sweden. Growing up across multiple cultures, Vinh carried a deep curiosity about his origins—one that stayed with him for years and ultimately led him to begin searching for his birth family. 

Without support from any formal systems or government resources, Vinh’s search was driven by persistence, instinct, and connection. With the help of a Vietnamese friend, he was eventually reunited with his birth family—an experience that brought both answers and a new layer of emotional complexity. 

In this episode, Vinh shares openly about identity, belonging, and what it means to navigate life as a transracial adoptee across cultures. He also speaks candidly about deeply personal topics, including trauma, sexuality, and the emotional realities of reunion. His story challenges simplified narratives about adoption and highlights the resilience it takes to seek truth on your own terms. 

Vinh Professional Website

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at:  [email protected]