I AM KOREAN AMERICAN

Own Words

I suspect it’s not a vogue thing to do (or admit) for male Korean Americans, but I’m a proud stay-at-home dad. In February, I hung up my fundraiser suits, ties, business casuals and life on the road for our youngest child’s dirty cloth diapers and puke, our oldest child’s “terrible threes,” grocery shopping, cooking, constant household chores and maintenance, and lawn care. My “job” obviously has its challenges like any other, but I can honestly say that being a stay-at-home dad is the best job I’ve ever had. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing your infant daughter smile at you 90% of the day…or having your three year old son tell you, “Go do the dishes, papa!” If she were alive, I think that my mother, who placed me for intercountry adoption when I was 6.5 years old, would get a kick out of my current “career.” Perhaps she would even be proud because I’m ! on the vanguard, doing my small part in helping to redefine what it means to be male in our sexist society.

To keep my brain engaged (infants and three year olds have conversational limits), I run a blog called Land of Gazillion Adoptees, landofgazillionadoptees.com. It’s an adoptee-centric blog that highlights the “expertise, accomplishments, programs, projects, and stories of the thousands of Minnesota adoptees and their counterparts living elsewhere in the US and beyond.” The blog runs the gamut from the mundane to the controversial, appeasing to confrontational, and informative to just plain ridiculous; to quote a friend, LGA is “unpredictable.” Nevertheless, there is a consistent theme. Contrary to mainstream thought, adoptees (not the adoption agencies, adoption professionals, and adoptive parents) are leading the way in adoption. I’m grateful to be a part of an adoptee community that has such intelligent, passionate, dedicated, and strong leaders. And I’m proud that many of the leaders are Korean American.

My name is Kevin Ost-Vollmers. I am Korean American.