Every year, Holt awards scholarships to three adoptees graduating high school and planning to pursue further education. We ask them to submit work based around a question or theme relating to the adoptee experience and encourage them to interpret the prompt creatively — whether through an essay, digital art or any other form that inspires them. This year, applicants responded to the prompt, “What is one thing you wish your family, friends or society knew about the adoptee experience?”

For her submission, Lily Rose Macaluso wrote the following poem:

“Those lips, those eyes,” her mother would say, Always took her breath away. From first glance, he loved me so, His forever girl to love and grow. 

They flew across the ocean far and wide, To claim their daughter by their side. Our family complete — my two brothers and I — A house full of laughs and an occasional cry. 

Our love grew strong, like entwined vines, Adoption and biology — just blended lines. “You don’t look like your parents,” some would speak, Echoes linger, soft yet deep. 

These words so simple yet pierced my heart, A subtle stab at my different start. “Where is your real mom?” kids would ask, As if switching moms was a simple task. 

She’s the one who kissed my scraped-up knees, And always embraced me with a warm, tight squeeze. The woman who sang me to sleep every night — Is somehow less real? Is somehow less right? 

They compare my eyes, my skin, my face, Trying to make sense of my family, my place. But family is more than physicality; It shapes our truth, our shared reality. 

So, when you notice that I look different, Know our bond is deep and significant. And when you ask, “Where is your real dad and mom?” Know that they’ve been by my side all along. 

A love so endless, so true, so strong — They are my anchor. They are where I belong. 

Lily Macaluso was adopted from China at 15 months old in 2008, joining her loving family in New Jersey. During high school, Lily was an active student who played on the tennis team and participated in a variety of extracurricular activities. Beyond school, Lily embraced her community — working as a camp counselor and scooping ice cream at a local shop. She also enjoyed babysitting for neighborhood families, quickly becoming a trusted helper to younger kids. Lily is now a student at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she is majoring in exercise science with plans to pursue a career as a physical therapist.

See this year’s other winning Holt Adoptee Scholarship submissions!

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The post Where I Belong: A Poem by Holt Adoptee Scholarship Winner appeared first on Holt International.

AJ is an affectionate and sweet boy. He responds warmly when trusted caregivers show him attention and is learning how to express himself. He responds to his name by smiling.

AJ adjusted well when he moved into a new care center in 2022 and he now lives in the nursery area with seven other children his age. He is developmentally delayed in various areas compared to his peers, particularly in motor development. He is currently receiving various therapies to support his healthy development.

An ideal adoptive family will have good access to educational and therapeutic resources. With love and encouragement, AJ will thrive in an adoptive family!

If you think you or someone you know could be the right family for AJ, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of AJ publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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Gavin is a curious and happy 5-year-old boy with an adorable smile! He enjoys playing with puzzles, building blocks and toy cars. His favorite foods are meat, fruit and dessert, and he especially loves barbecue!

He is doing well in kindergarten, and his favorite subject is music. He plays well with other children and knows how to share and take turns cooperatively. Gavin enjoys being outside — whether he’s playing at the park or going camping. Right now, he’s learning how to ride a bike!

Gavin is currently living with a foster family while he waits for a permanent, loving family. He has some delays in speech as well as fine and gross motor skills. His foster family shares that he has made amazing progress.

An ideal adoptive family will be loving, patient and kind. Gavin will be best supported by a family who has access to occupational, physical and speech therapy, as well as learning support through school.

If you think you or someone you know could be the right family for Gavin, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of Gavin publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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Mary is a bubbly little girl who enjoys playing with puzzles and dolls. From a young age, she has loved singing, dancing and listening to music. Mary loves cats and dogs and dreams of having a pet of her own one day! She enjoys riding in the car, playing at the park and going on special outings with her foster family. She gets along well with others and has formed good emotional attachments with her caregivers.

Mary is currently receiving ongoing therapeutic care to help her learn and grow. She is making good progress in her speech, occupational and educational development. Mary is calm, adaptable to change and responds well to routines.

An ideal adoptive family will be warm, patient, emotionally available and committed to offering Mary a stable and nurturing environment. A family who will support Mary’s therapeutic needs will help her thrive.

If you think you or someone you know could be the right adoptive family for Mary, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of Mary publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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Dear Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary Gracon, Division Chief Bentley, and Ms. Urbina:

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us and for sharing your understanding of China’s current position on international adoptions. We are writing to follow up on that conversation and to strongly reiterate our request: that you continue to advocate—clearly and unequivocally—for our families and for our matched children who wait to be united, especially in this critical lead-up to a summit between the US and China.

As several of us noted, experts have long told us that any decision to complete China’s pending US adoptions must come from the highest levels of its government. China’s political structure is deeply hierarchical, and progress will only come if the matter is raised with senior leadership. Lower and mid-level bureaucrats must toe the party line and have no choice but to declare that the program is closed.

We appreciate your answers to our questions regarding the level of US diplomatic engagement to date. But we were profoundly discouraged to learn that, despite years of outreach from Members of Congress, Senators, and Governors, this issue has yet to be raised with China at the level necessary to effect change.

In short: the right door has never been knocked on. No one has engaged the necessary decision makers.

We urge you—respectfully but emphatically—not to give up on our children. While we understand that setting the agenda for bilateral talks may not rest with your office, your voice matters. A lack of strong advocacy now could prevent this issue from being raised at all.

This moment—on the eve of a rare U.S.-China summit—is the best opportunity we’ve had in years to bring our children home. Issues important to both our countries are on the table. We have worked tirelessly to build momentum and make our voices heard. 

Please do not undercut these efforts by:

1 Suggesting to the Administration that our children are not worth raising in this dialogue; or

2 Failing to advocate forcefully for their inclusion on the summit agenda.

The window is closing. We urge you not to be the ones who close it. Do not let China pre-emptively set the agenda.
This is the time to fulfill your promise to support our families. Please continue to advocate within the Administration that our waiting children deserve to be a part of these negotiations at the Presidential level.

With urgency and hope,

The Waiting Families of Hope Leads Home

The post Sign On to Advocate for Waiting Children in China appeared first on Holt International.

Teddy is an active and smiley little boy! He enjoys toy cars, scooters and playing outside. He is currently attending a toddler class and is participating in play therapy. In his sessions, he enjoys drawing, painting, listening to music and pretend playing. He knows his colors, shapes, animals, nursery rhymes and how to build block structures. He is currently learning to count!

Teddy is kind and caring toward other children and loves playing with them. He has a good relationship with his caregivers and is alert and inquisitive when interacting with those around him. He shares a room with 11 other children but has no trouble falling asleep at night, taking comfort in a doll that he sleeps with.

Teddy’s doctor shares that he is a sweet, determined child who likes to do things independently when he can. His doctor believes he will go far with appropriate support. He will need ongoing therapy and assistive devices for mobility and education in the future. Teddy is making great progress in physical therapy and is learning to walk with a walker. He can now sit, crawl, climb on a chair and pull up to stand and remain standing on his own. He is very determined and tries his best to do things on his own. Teddy is a healthy and intelligent little boy with a physical disability and a mild speech delay.

An ideal adoptive family will have access to a children’s medical center that provides physical, occupational and speech therapy along with excellent pediatric orthopedic services. With love and care, this precious boy will thrive in an adoptive family!

If you think you or someone you know could be the right adoptive family for Teddy, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of Teddy publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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In the following Q&A, Paul Kim, Holt’s director of Korea and Mongolia programs, reflects on the history and continued importance of this unique post-adoption service — and shares some of his favorite memories from the past 25 years of leading Holt’s annual heritage tour of Korea.

Q: How did the concept for adoptee heritage tours originate?

A: The idea emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the first generation of Korean adoptees began reaching adolescence. At that time, adoptees were grappling with identity questions — who they were, where they came from, and what their heritage meant. Social work practices then focused on assimilation, encouraging adoptees to forget their birth culture and integrate quickly into American society. But as understanding of adoption evolved, it became clear that this approach was deeply flawed.

Q: It was in fact your father, Dr. David H. Kim, who pioneered the first heritage tour. Can you share more about what inspired him to create this unique service for adoptees? [Note: David Kim was the first employee Harry Holt hired in post-war Korea, and together they created the Holt Adoption Program. David also went on to become executive director of Holt International from 1980 to 1990.]

A: My father began receiving letters from adoptees asking about their origins and Korean history. Most people at that time, even after the Korean War, didn’t know much about Korea. He realized the best way of reintroducing them to their birth heritage is to organize travel back to Korea — to show their roots and give them an idea and an understanding of Korean life. In 1975, he organized the first “Motherland Tour” to Korea for a group of 18 adoptees, most of whom were biracial and part of the post-Korean War adoption wave.

Q: What was the impact of that first tour?

A: It was transformative. The adoptees really learned much more about Korea than anyone could ever provide them just by showing them pictures or reading out of books. … Back then, if you wanted to look something up about a country, you went and read an encyclopedia. There was no Internet, there was no Wikipedia. Even television was limited.

A lot of them also really had questions about identity. How do I fit in? And so the trip was a journey of exploration and discovery, but also one of self-understanding and growth and acceptance.

Q: How did the program evolve over time?

A: After the success of the first tour, Holt continued organizing annual heritage tours of Korea. In the 1980s, we began a second tour — the “family tour” — in addition to a tour for individual adoptees traveling by themselves. This was a tour that was designed to accommodate adoptive families whose children were not old enough to come on their own, but also for families that wanted to take this journey of exploration and discovery together.

Q: Did you ever join one of the heritage tours your father led?

A: Yes, I was part of the very first tour in 1975. I also joined subsequent tours during my teens and twenties.

Q: What are some of your memories from those early experiences?

A: Korea was vastly different back then. Today, it’s modern and technologically advanced, but in 1975, it was still deeply affected by poverty. I had an experience where we were out doing some shopping and a little boy, probably about 10-11 years old — about my same age — just appeared in front of me. His clothes were in tatters. He had no shoes. His face was all smudged with dirt. He just stood there standing in front of me with his hand out with palm up, asking for money, but he never said anything, just looked at me. … I think back on that and his face is still just burned into my memory. What I feel now is a deep sense of shame for not having done anything to help him.

The reason I I talk about this is that people need to understand Korea in 1975. This is a generation where a lot of adoptees were placed in the United States. Korea was so different then. There was so much poverty.

Q: You’ve made it your life’s mission to help orphaned and vulnerable children as Holt’s director of Korea and Mongolia programs. Did early experiences like that influence your decision to go into child welfare work?

A: It certainly is something that deeply affected me. However, growing up I never envisioned working for Holt or in child welfare. But it is funny how sometimes the universe has other plans for you.

Q: After your father retired from leading heritage tours, you took up the mantle. How many heritage tours of Korea have you led?

A: I’ve led every tour since 2000. That adds up to over 30 tours so far.

Q: How has the tour changed over the years — either intentionally or organically?

A: One of the biggest changes is the kind of information adoptees have access to. As Korean laws and recordkeeping have improved, more detailed histories have become available. Today, adoptees often have access to birth family information, hospital records and even the opportunity to meet birth relatives. This summer alone, several adoptees on the tour were able to connect with their birth families. And so the tour has really evolved from one of a tourist experience; it has moved away from being so focused on just learning about Korea to where it’s now more about learning about yourself.

Q: Has the structure of the tour changed as well?

A: Yes, we eventually decided to discontinue the “motherland tour,” and our tour is now more of a unified experience. It’s not just an adoptee-only tour and it’s not just a family-only tour. We have found that this mix of life stories, of ages, of experiences really enriches that journey for everyone.

Q: After 25 years of leading Korea Heritage Tours, what are some of your favorite memories?

A: One that I’ll never forget involved a young adoptee celebrating her 16th birthday during the tour. She had enough background information to visit her birth hospital. When she arrived, the staff asked if she’d like to meet the doctor who delivered her — and he was still working there, along with the two nurses who assisted.

They even took her to the delivery room, and she sat on the very bed where her mother had given birth to her. What made it even more incredible was that it happened on her actual birthday — 16 years to the day — and within an hour of her birth time. it was just amazing. It was the most serendipitous experience.

Q: Was she able to meet her birth mother?

A: No, she wasn’t. But even without that, the experience was transformative for her. It gave her a powerful connection to her beginnings.

Q: Are you present for birth family or foster family meetings during the tours?

A: Yes, I’ve actually translated and facilitated quite a number of meetings. It’s incredibly powerful. One of the things that I’m tasked to do during that process is to act as a bridge. I grew up in the U.S. but in a Korean-American family and I was born in Korea, so I have insights into both cultural perspectives. I help navigate the differences in expectations, emotions and communication between adoptees, birth families and adoptive families.

Q: What do adoptees gain by traveling on Holt’s Korea Heritage Tour instead of going on their own?

A: That’s a question we get a lot — and it’s one that’s been answered best by the adoptees who’ve taken our tour. Traveling overseas, especially to a country where you don’t speak the language and may be visiting for the first time, can be exhausting. You’re constantly navigating logistics: where to eat, how to get around, what to do if something goes wrong. On Holt’s tour, all of that is taken care of so adoptees can focus entirely on the experience.

On Holt’s heritage tour, you’re also traveling with people who understand the adoption story. Adoptees often face questions in daily life — about their families, their identity, their background. On this tour, there’s no need to explain yourself. It’s a safe space. And that is something that I cannot overstate. You’re surrounded by people who get it. That sense of belonging is incredibly powerful, especially during such a vulnerable and transformative journey.

Q: What kind of support does Holt provide during the tour?

A: Our staff and guides are with you every step of the way. If something comes up —whether it’s a logistical issue, a health concern, or an emotional moment — you have people you can count on. We’ve been doing this for a long time, and we know how to help adoptees get the most out of their time in Korea.

Q: Can’t adoptees just do a file review on their own?

A: They can, but the difference is in the ongoing support. If questions come up days later —about something in the file, or about processing the experience — who will be there to help? With Holt, our post-adoption services team is available before, during and after the tour. Whether it’s help packing, navigating medical needs or emotional support, we’re here for the entire journey.

Q: What’s the best age for an adoptee to join a heritage tour?

A: That’s one of the most frequently asked questions from adoptive families — and our answer is always: your child will tell you. We’ve had adoptees join the tour as young as 8 and as old as 70. Some are ready early, others much later. Even siblings adopted into the same family can feel differently — one may be eager to go, while the other has no interest.

Q: Should parents encourage their child to go, even if they’re unsure?

A: We always advise parents not to force it. Listen to your child. They’ll give you clues about whether it’s the right time. And it’s not uncommon for adoptees to return to Korea multiple times — once with their parents, and later with a partner or their own children.

Q: What else would you like to share about Holt’s heritage tours?

A: It is founded on the idea that when you place a child from a country overseas, you don’t erase that child’s background. It really is a disservice to the adoptees and their understanding of who they are. Since that time, many other organizations have begun their own tour opportunities, but it all sprang from that very first tour that Holt began in 1975, born out of the idea that we do have a commitment to the children we’ve placed through adoption. This is a lifelong relationship that we have with adoptees and adoptive families.

Travel with Holt on a Heritage Tour!

For adoptees ages 9 and older, Holt offers guided tours of China, Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam. Experience the culture and customs of your birth country and visit sites significant to your adoption story.

Learn About heritage Tours

The post Fifty Years of Holt’s Korea Heritage Tour appeared first on Holt International.

Joseph is a sociable, lively little boy who loves the outdoors. From a young age, he’s loved going to the park and being surrounded by people and nature. He’s physically agile and enjoys staying active — whether he’s playing with blocks, zooming toy cars around or rising his balance bike.

Joseph is making great strides in his development. He’s learning to be independent in daily routines like dressing himself, brushing his teeth and feeding himself. He’s working on using chopsticks and enjoys a variety of foods, especially fruit, meat, steamed buns, noodles and rice.

Through early intervention, Joseph is receiving support for his development. He walks and runs like other children his age and can go up and down stairs. He has started speaking in simple sentences, writing numbers and identifying shapes and colors. Now in kindergarten, Joseph enjoys puzzles and story time. He can complete a 20-piece puzzle independently, and a 40-piece puzzle with a little help!

An ideal adoptive family for Joseph will be experienced, patient and nurturing. A family familiar with the impacts of grief and loss — and able to set loving boundaries — will help him thrive. Joseph would do especially well in a home that enjoys being active, spending time outdoors and engaging in sports or play.

If you think you or someone you know could be the right adoptive family for Joseph, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of Joseph publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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Patti is a playful and kind girl with a big heart. She loves to draw, paint and experiment with art projects. Patti is a good helper and enjoys helping with household tasks like emptying the dishwasher or watering the plants.

Patti prefers to play with a small group of friends rather than a large group. Her teachers say she is kind to her classmates, and lately she’s been making progress with developmental skills. In her free time, she likes riding her toy motorbike and jumping on the trampoline. Her favorite foods are oats porridge, gravy and peanut butter.

An ideal adoptive family for Patti should be well connected with educational and therapeutic resources for developmental delays. With love and support from an adoptive family, Patti will rise to her fullest potential.

If you think you or someone you know could be the adoptive right family for Patti, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of Patti publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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Maddy is an extroverted and cheerful girl who loves music, acting, singing and dancing. She is currently in school and enjoys learning new things! Maddy is friendly and gets along well with others — especially her caregivers. She is not a picky eater and likes to try new foods!

Maddy is growing her independent skills, such as learning to dress herself. Lately she has made progress with communicating with others. She enjoys spending time with older children and would do well with older siblings!

An ideal adoptive family will have access to a good cardiologist, as well as excellent pediatric resources for children with Down syndrome. Maddy will benefit from speech, occupational and physical therapy, as well as special educational support in school.

If you think you or someone you know could be the right family for Maddy, please email our waiting child team at waitingchild@holtinternational.org! We cannot share photos of Maddy publicly due to country restrictions on privacy and adoption. However, the waiting child team has more photos and videos available to share with prospective families interested in adoption.

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