This next part of our birth parent series will feature interviews with social workers in our overseas programs who have worked directly with birth mothers who have chosen to place their child for adoption. The first interview is with Goranid Sudmee — “Tuk” — a social worker at Holt Sahathai Foundation (HSF), Holt’s partner agency in Thailand.

The following is a story that Tuk wrote about a birth mother she worked with 26 years ago and the reunion she helped to facilitate. Identifying information has been changed to protect the privacy of the parties involved. A Q&A with Tuk follows the story.

From the Field; a Post Adoption Reunion Story from Thailand

Written by Tuk (Goranid Sudmee)

Holt Sahathai Foundation, THAILAND

Translated by Pim (Nattaka Chaisinthop)

I locked the pickup truck carefully. I then walked across the park to where the Court of Justice was located. The court was now closed, of course, given the rather late hours. But I did not come here with the intention of visiting this imposing building anyway, rather it was the area beside it that I was interested in, if the information I had was accurate.

Poi*, 41, told me that she lived in the area, selling miscellaneous second-hand goods.