Liani Reeves spent the first months of her life in an orphanage in Seoul, South Korea, before an American family adopted her.

She describes her early years as those of a typical American childhood – she loved cats, building snow forts and playing outside with friends. But Liani was also very angry. She battled deep-seated fears of abandonment. And over the years, buried a mix of emotions while trying to make sense of so many identities –– as an orphan, an adoptee, an Asian-American, an Asian-American woman, and as an immigrant.

This episode is a part of a series exploring the stories and experiences of Asian Americans in a climate of Anti-Asian rhetoric and increasing violence, like the mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, earlier this year. It is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition and is made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell. For more information on our multimedia exploration of this topic, please visit, “I Am an American: Stories of Exclusion and Belonging.”