Mark Hagland was born in South Korea in 1960, and adopted to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was raised by white parents of Norwegian and German descent. He obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He has worked as a professional journalist for 39 years.

Mark has been actively involved as a participant, writer, and speaker, in ongoing dialogues in the transracial adoption world, for over 21 years. He has written numerous articles on transracial adoption, and has been a contributing author to several anthologies written by teams of adult transracial adoptees, including "Outsiders Within," "Parenting As Adoptees," and "The Unknown Culture Club." This spring, he self-published his ebook, "Extraordinary Journey: The Lifelong Path of the Transracial Adoptee." It is available at markhaglandbook.com.

Mark is dedicated to supporting his fellow transracial adoptees on their lifelong journeys, and to educating transracially adoptive parents in their parenting journeys. He speaks and writes widely on transracial adoption. In his professional life, he is a magazine editor and health care journalist, and lives in Chicago.

Music by Corey Quinn