KoRoot also helped him obtain a document showing his birth name, Park Won-il, and that he was only three days old when a shop clerk brought him to the Centre for Lost Children.
When he took the document to a government agency, however, he was told it belonged to someone else with the same name, with no further explanation given. There is no other record of his first two years and a half.
For now, he is not continuing his search, unless a future DNA match offers new leads.
As for Samuelsson, she is looking for her birth family, but her search has stalled. Her sister, having built a life in the US, has not lent a hand yet and sees no reason to look back.
“I have no desire to pursue it, I really don’t,” Harned says contentedly. “This is my home.”
Malmgren is hesitant too, but for a different reason. He worries about “what happens if we do find our parents”. Asked if he fears finding that they might have truly abandoned him, he replies: “Yeah, that’s one fear.”