Many Roads to Here: My Brother Came by Stork and I Came by Plane

Join us this Sunday, October 1st at 4pm for the return of Many Roads to Here, a production of The Immigrant Story, capturing the immigrant experience in the U.S. through monthly profiles. Voices from across the globe offer intimate accounts of immigration, war, genocide, and success. Listen live at 99.1 FM in the heart of Portland – or online anywhere at PRP.fm.

Liani Reeves spent the first months of her life in an orphanage in Seoul, South Korea, before an American family adopted her.

She describes her early years as those of a typical American childhood – she loved cats, building snow forts and playing outside with friends. But Liani was also very angry. She battled deep-seated fears of abandonment. And over the years, buried a mix of emotions while trying to make sense of so many identities –– as an orphan, an adoptee, an Asian-American, an Asian-American woman, and as an immigrant.

This week’s episode is a rerun, but earlier this month Liani Reeves shared her story at the 2024 Portland Welcoming Week, an event dedicated to building an inclusive community and bringing together immigrants, refugees and U.S. born residents.

This episode was produced by Elayna Yussen with audio editing by Rick March. Our executive producer is the tenacious Sankar Raman. The original episode was published in November of 2021.

This episode is a part of a series exploring the stories and experiences of Asian Americans in a climate of Anti-Asian rhetoric and increasing violence. It is produced as part of the Oregon Rises Above Hate coalition and is made possible by a generous contribution by Anne Naito-Campbell. For more information on our multimedia exploration of this topic, please visit, “I Am an American: Stories of Exclusion and Belonging.”