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Adoption Awareness Week 2023: Searching for your roots
Here comes the story from Emma Karuna Lundgren, she was adopted from India.

Hey!

My name is Emma Karuna Lundgren, I’m 30 years old & adopted from India, New Delhi to Sweden. Orphanage: Welfare Home For Children.

I grew up with Swedish parents & 3 younger siblings who are their biological children. In recent days, my family has expanded after I submitted a DNA-test & found out that my closest newfound friend is my biological cousin.

 

Can you tell us why you decided to start searching for your roots?

I think it's natural to want to return to your roots, but some choose not to, since it can be very emotional. My family travelled to India in 2019 & it meant a lot to me. I got to see & experience a lot when we traveled. Now, India isn’t just a name on the map. One of my strongest memories was that I looked like everyone else & the visit to the orphanage where I got to know more info about my first mother.

To have been abandoned & then chosen leaves its mark. That we have been through such a great trauma & also grew up in a world that has romanticized the subject & expected that we should be grateful has made me keep my thoughts & feelings for myself for a long time, which has been very lonely. To "meet" other adoptees via social media made me feel less alone with my feelings, thoughts & challenges.

My dream is to know the truth about my background & reunite with my first family.

 

How did you carry out the search?

I wanted to search for family & explore my ethnicity, so I did a DNA-test.

 

How did your root search affect your identity?

It became clear to me how strong biological ties are. I submitted the DNA- test partly because we suspected kinship as our affinity was so strong. We weren't just best friends—we were also family. It is so important to be able to reflect yourself in someone else & it has increased my pride about my origin, skin color & self-esteem. Reunion is painful & rewarding at same time.

 

Is there anything you would like to say to an adoptee who is considering searching for their roots?

The fact that you choose to search for your first family has nothing to do with your second family. It is about you!

 

I my Swedish family but I feel an emptiness inside me that I want to fill in order to find peace.

 

#adoptionscentrum.se

@Emmakarunalundgren