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This chapter examines the emotional costs of Asian international adoption in the United States by focusing on the less well-known stories of pioneering American adoptive families. In particular, it considers serious challenges that accompanied creating a family through international adoption, including spousal disagreements, financial stress, adjustment difficulties, and racial anxieties, as well as the joys of global family making. Based on such narratives, the chapter challenges the notion that adoptive children experienced a smooth and joyful transition upon arrival in the United States. Instead, it presents a more nuanced and honest portrayal of the emotional ups and downs that American families go through, not to mention the financial costs involved, when adopting Asian children.

This concluding chapter examines the new geographies as well as the Cold War history and legacy of international adoption in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century and the first few years of the twenty-first century. It considers the changes that have occurred with respect to international adoption since the 1970s, especially its evolution as a truly global industry. It cites the dramatic rise in the number of international adoptions since the 1950s and 1960s and the increased diversity of the national origins of adoptive children in the United States. It also looks at other countries that have become important receiving nations of internationally adopted children, led by Norway and Spain. Finally, it discusses new controversies that have emerged such as the issue of gay and lesbian adoption. Given the vibrancy of the communities formed through Asian international adoption, the chapter calls for an expansion of the field of Asian American Studies to include adoptee experiences in its teaching, research, and professional service.

This chapter explores how the search for ancestral “roots” differs between transnational adoptees and the descendants of immigrants. Drawing on ethnographic data collected in France, Ireland, and Québec, this chapter constructs an anthropology of genealogical practices. Given that reclaiming the culture of origin does not hold the same meanings for members of each group, the two groups construct distinct relationships to genealogical memory and knowledge. The chapter examines what hides behind these “routes to the roots” projects by exploring questions of who owns the rights to investigate their ancestry. Furthermore, it looks into the ways in which adoptive parents and even state institutions can benefit from exploring the genealogies of adopted or emigrated citizens.