Help David go to Korea

We are raising money to send David to Korea to meet his birth family.  
We hope to help him raise enough to cover his plane flight and any unforeseen travel expenses.

David's Story
David was born in Pusan, South Korea.  He was born premature with undeveloped lungs and cerebral palsy.
 He was given up for adoption and adopted by His loving mother Sandy in North Carolina.



We knew nothing else about his birth family except for what his American adoption records said, which is very little.  


With the free time associated with having 2 knee surgeries, David decided to do some paperwork and get his Korean adoption paperwork.  Which is often different than the American version.  Hoping to find some minor details about his family that he never knew, he was surprised with so much more!

We were surprised to find that his birth Family has been looking for him for years.
The details surrounding his adoption were very different from what we thought.  



He was born to a mother and father, very much in love.  Rich in love, but not money.  Due to a traumatic event he was born premature.  He was going to be kept in an incubator and would need treatment lifelong for his lungs.  The nurses informed his father that they would need for him to pay for his incubator treatment in advance, which equaled about 50,000 American dollars.  They said if he could not pay, that they could give him up for adoption and the adoption agency would pay for his treatment.  With no option to pay for his treatment, he was forced to give David up for adoption.  

He kept this a secret from David's mother.  He wanted to save her from heartache and told her that David died at birth.  
David's Dad kept this secret all of David's life.
They went on to marry, have a daughter and have a life together.  While David grew up in North Carolina, with His mother, Brother Kee and Sister Stephanie.

David's dad living with this secret his whole life, decided to come clean and tell his family what really happened to David.  
They immediately went to the adoption agency and persistently followed up trying to find David.
They hit a wall, and were unable to locate David, until last week.  David's searching for his birth record initiated their finally finding David.
Fortunately David speaks some Korean thanks to tutoring from his friend Sunyoung.  He was able to call the Korean adoption agency directly.  They sent over pictures and letters from his family and began searching for his family that was so desperately searching for him.





 3 days ago at 5AM, David received a friend request on facebook from his sister.  They had finally found him.  They stayed up and talked for hours, with his mother and father as well.  David finally got to hear his family say “I Love You.  I Miss You”. 

David Immediately bought a plane ticket to Korea, so he can reunite with his family.

A little more about David
David is my husband, we have been married for almost 5 years and together for 8.  We own our own business teaching martial arts.  We have been in business for almost 7 years. 

David excels at teaching and truly caring about each and every one of his students. 
He also makes time to teach at local schools teaching anti-bullying, stranger danger and safety classes. 

David has overcome some overwhelming challenges these last few years.  A little over a year ago, his brother Kee, also an adoptee, committed suicide.  This has been extremely difficult and still something we think about every day. 

In September David had surgery to repair his ACL.  This was very difficult as David loves exercising and running, suddenly finding himself having to rest and relax and unable to exercise was frustrating.  David made a speedy recovery and was back at work in almost 2 months.  Then as a complication from his ACL repair, his Patella broke in November.  He found himself with another surgery and having to rest and relax yet again. 


Why do we need your help?

A plane flight to Korea is expensive.
Those of you who know us, know it’s been a tough year.  David has had 2 knee surgeries in the last 5 months.  The expense from that is a little overwhelming.  We are self-employed and it is difficult financially to take time of work for any reason.

This trip is something that desperately needs to happen.

David has touched the lives of so many people and it’s partly due to the sacrifice his birth-family made.

Help us get David to Korea!