Executive Director, UK
Marie is a Chinese Indian adoptee born in Malaysia and adopted to Britain. After leaving Malaysia, Marie grew up in Germany, Wales, Scotland and England and has finally found a home in London where its diversity and creativity is a source of inspiration and opportunity.
Marie’s keen to facilitate practical support for adoptees individually, connecting adoptees, sharing resources and running events. On a more collective level, she would like to find ways to partner with organisations in order to both support adoptees and find ways to centre adoptees stories with creativity and impact in the UK community.
Marie took on the role of ICAV UK representative in 2019 with the hope of bringing more UK adoptees together to support each other and raise the visibility of intercountry and transracial adoptee rights in Britain.
Marie is interested in identifying or creating spaces and resources which are adoptee only as she has noticed there is not only very little available but where it exists – it is often in spaces shared by adopters and adoption agencies or social services. Marie believes this to be a conflict of interests which has strongly affected adoptees ability to identify and secure the support needed, and creates an advocacy gap for adoptees in the UK.
Marie is keen to address the disparities between not only the rights of adoptees and non adoptees but also the increasing disparity of intercountry adoptees vs domestic adoptees.
The complications of intercountry adoptions are providing protection for unethical practices, preventing meaningful exploration of alternative solutions and further marginalising the rights of migrant adoptees.