Chung was born in Seattle in 1981 to Korean parents who relinquished her to adoption after she spent months on life support.

[6] She attended Johns Hopkins University, graduating with an undergraduate degree from the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences in 2003 and an MA in 2014.

[9][10] She continued writing essays on topics involving gender, race, and media, such as the impact of seeing Asian American figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi on television[11] and the experience of casual racism at dinner parties.

[13] The book is structured around Chung's efforts during her first pregnancy to reconstruct the story of her own origins, including searching for her birth family, contacting them, then discovering a history of abuse, divorce, and deception.

[14] Kate Tuttle of The Boston Globe summarized the book as "deeply thoughtful and moving" and "a fiercely compelling page-turner".