Reflections on Returning Home Part 2

On By Guest BloggerIn Adoptee Activism, Adoptee support provided by adoptees, Adoptees Educate, China, China, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Diversity in Adoption, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Origins Search, Return to Birth Country, Sense of Belonging, Transracial Adoption, USA

by Emma Fujuan Roberts-Vaurio 崇福娟, adopted from China to the USA

I wanted to share about the 2nd Chinese Adoptee Symposium while I was in China, with the end of the semester being busy I decided to wait until I had the capacity to gather my thoughts, so here it goes.

On April 27th, 2024 we hosted the 2nd Chinese Adoptee Symposium at NYU Shanghai’s campus. This year’s symposium built off of last year’s Inaugural Chinese Adoptee Symposium which was created by Chinese & Korean Adoptees: Yuechi K., Leigh J., Leyla B., and Dan B.

For this year’s symposium, Yuechi K. and I worked closely together as co-leaders with a group of adoptees based in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou to create a day of community- focused and adoptee-centered sessions for Asian adoptees in China.

The symposium itself consisted of four adoptee-led sessions and ended with an Adoptee Community Dinner at Lotus Eatery in Shanghai.

The sessions were as follows:

1) Adoptee “Speed Dating” (community building)

2) Adoptee Language & Power hosted by Yuechi K. & Megan – Unpacking thoughts and feelings around our connection as Intercountry Adoptees to our languages of origin.

3) Birth Searching Discussion – Centering Chinese adoptee experiences of birth searching & reunion in China with Ester & Emerald.

4) “Homecoming” Creative writing and drawing – hosted by me, focusing on reflecting on our relationship to the concepts of “Home” & “Homecoming” upon returning back to our countries of origin.

Helping to organize this day and bring to life the second iteration of the Chinese Adoptee Symposium in Shanghai was one of the most impactful experiences during my time in China. How beautiful and healing it was to be in community in China (!!!) with others who share this unique journey of loss, exploration, reclamation, and so much more. This day truly would not have been all that it was without everyone who helped plan, organize, attend, and share their energy in this space that we created.

Looking ahead, I hope that we, the Chinese Adoptee community, can continue to build more opportunities like this to return to and connect in China together ❤️.

You can follow Emma at Insta: @emmarobertsv_

Resources

NYU Shanghai writeup about the 2nd Chinese Adoptee Symposium

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