THE HURON EMERY | ISSUE 5: APRIL 10 | FEATURE
Portraits of love
Soyeon Kim’s adoption fundraising journey
JULIE HENG EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Soyeon Kim loves people. That’s probably why she’s a teacher — she loves people and the connections she can make with them. “If it doesn’t happen, I get depressed and lonely,” Kim, a Huron art teacher, said. “Not that I can make strong relationships with everybody at once. But [having] strong relationships at any moment is very, very important to me.” And that’s what she strives for. As a teacher, she loves to meet and raise students. “But my impact is very minimal or small and short-term, and I don’t like that short term relationship,” said Kim, who only teaches semester courses. “Four months is everything I have. As soon as I feel like I connect, they leave.” S o the way Kim sees it, the most meaningful thing in life is to raise a human being. “Whenever I deal with mothers and fathers, parents in general, I get touched by their commitment, passion and compassion,” Kim said. “And that love. That unconditional love.” She sees it whenever she talks to parents — with students’ parents at parent-teacher conferences, with her friends who are parents, everywhere. Adopting “The way international- they articulate ly from Korea their children costs up to and the way they $54,000. care for their Visit the Kims’ children? It’s GoFundMe touching,” Kim page here: said. “I admire those parents. And that’s another huge part of me that wants to be a parent.” That road has not been easy. By 2015, Kim had had a couple of miscarriages. After consulting a fertility doctor, she and her husband Brandon were
considering in vitro fertilization (IVF), the artificial fertilization of eggs and sperm outside the body. At the same time, her husband was studying at the Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids. Coincidentally, for his pastoral examination, he received a case study about IVF. “[N]ormally they make way more embryos than they need because the success rate is so low. And then once they are successful with the first few, then what do you do with the rest of them?” Kim explained. “[In the case study,] the female partner said, ‘I treat them as children.’ And the male partner said, ‘Just mere cells. We can just t h r o w t h e m away.’” A s Kim and her husband started looking into this case study, it got her thinking. There are plenty of children who need homes. Is it really important for us to have biological children? “I have been a teacher for a long time,” Kim said. “So I see all the children, thinking, ‘What if this is my child? What if that is my child?’” She found that she was willing to accept anyone as her child. “As long as we build a relationship, I think it’s okay that it’s not a biological child.” When adopting internationally, Kim said the adoption agency advised adoptive parents to learn and educate the child about their culture of origin. That’s why they’re looking to adopt from Korea. “We both are Korean and [it] would be natural to raise the child in Korean culture,” Kim said. The adoption process is long and tedious. As part of a home study, prospective parents under-
go countless background checks and examinations and interviews with social workers, arrange extensive legal documentation, study online training courses and write essays. “At one point, we were given a list of all these illnesses that a child can potentially have, and then we had to check off if we’re willing to accept it [and to] how severe a degree,” said Kim, who consulted a doctor to understand it better. “That was a very difficult process because some diseases were more severe. Like, heart defects are very common in children in South Korea. So it’s kind of like a process, mental preparation for us.” Now, adopting a child can be expensive. Adopting internationally from Korea, which requires additional processing and travel fees, can cost nearly $50,000. “We saved $10,000, but it still wasn’t enough. Not even close,” said Kim, who has been saving for over three years now. “We’re fundraising about $30,000 and then hoping we can loan another $10,000.” As part of the fundraiser, Kim opened commissions for portraits. “I didn’t even expect anybody would be interested. Maybe one or two people,” Kim said. “I was kind of hesitant to [open commissions], because I’ve never sold [or] charged anyone for my work.” Within a day, she received two requests. “So I drew those two and [posted them] on Facebook,” Kim explained. “And every time I post a new drawing on Facebook, I always get more requests and more requests.” So far, Kim has finished 17 portraits and has 31 more requests lined up. Portraits, which start at $100 and go up to $300 depending on the medium, size and number of subjects featured, take at least ten hours to finish. “$100 for 10 hours, I get $10 [per hour],” Kim
Art teacher Soyeon Kim appreciates all moms. “[At conferences], I always say great job and thank you for sharing your child with me, your support, your love,” Kim said. MAYA KOGULAN said. “So it’s minimum Kim said. “I’ve never met wage, right? I am not trying him. [But] I think that story to make profit out of any- was something very rewardbody. If it wasn’t for fund- ing. I just love that connecraising, I probably would tion and recognition and have not done this.” relationship and...people’s When she first stories.” opened the commissions, Which is why, as Kim would draw for five she waits for a child to be hours straight, examining referred for adoption from photos from different an- Korea, she will continue gles, analyzing poses and to draw these portraits — expressions to capture a Christmas gifts from a wife model’s essence. to her husband, surprise “It’s intense,” Kim Valentine’s gifts from a boysaid. “My eyes hurt. My friend to his girlfriend. Gifts neck hurts. My head hurts. for a parent, or a child, or It’s a lot of work.” a grandparent or a grand Now, she works on child. the portraits for two or three “People don’t rehours each day after work, quest their self portrait,” rotating among several so Kim said. “It’s never a self she can keep her eyes fresh. thing. It’s always somebody She’s adding color and cal- else and gifts. And I think ligraphy and backgrounds that’s very important to and finding ways to add her me.” own creative style. All these stories Even better, she is strengthen her determinatouched by the stories of tion to be a good mother. people who “I know the commission stories of portraits from hard things her. go I just want to do some- parents O n e through person want- thing good. Something — every ed a portrait parent, no meaningful. of his mother, matter how whom he nevgood the SOYEON KIM er met after child is,” she divorced his father. He Kim said. “It doesn’t matdidn’t have a picture of her, ter. If the child is sick, your save a very old, very pixelat- heart aches. If the child is ed, very blurry photo from going through some relahis uncle. tionship problems, your “I don’t know him,” heart aches. Life is hard.” Kim pauses. “But I just want to do something good. Something meaningful.”
“
In art school, teacher Soyeon Kim drew a lot of self portraits, to the point that she got tired of seeing her own face. Now, she’s testing out new subjects and art styles. MAYA KOGULAN