Erika Hayasaki

Erika Hayasaki engages an adoption constellation: two twins who shared a womb and were adopted into very different circumstances (rich American strangers and poor Vietnamese family), one of whom shares her adoptive family with a genetically unrelated girl from her same region and her same age.

The stories and identity formation quests of these three girls are fascinating and handled with care by the author -- so much care that the book seems to sometimes pull punches, despite having a clear message against transnational and transracial adoption -- and since I find these stories endlessly fascinating I quite enjoyed it. I think, however, that the story came through just as well in the short-form journalism on this story that I read before I picked up the book.… (more)

twins born in 1998 Vietnam separated; one is adopted by a white family (living in a wealthy IL mostly-white neighborhood, along with another adopted girl from Vietnam, who is incidentally queer) and the other raised by her lesbian aunt in rural Vietnam. Author is mixed race (Japanese-American) and delves into a history of other ethical, social, and scientific issues surrounding twin studies, international and interracial adoptions, adoptee mental health and citizenship.

The narrative (pieced together from five years of interviews with the three adopted women and their various family members in US and Vietnam) gets a bit draggy but it's all good perspective that provides understanding and support for international adoptees who might otherwise not feel seen.… (more)