Jen writes to her original parents expressing the sorrow and grief of never meeting them and her life being adopted to Australia as a First Nations Canadian.
Category: Grief and Loss
Dear Korea, About Mia*
kim thompson shares her letter to Korea about her friend who was adopted and committed suicide in her 30s
Adoptee Grief and Zen Meditation
Desiree shares her journey of acknowledging and embracing feelings of grief and loss that arise during Zen meditation. We all try to find paths towards healing.
Learning to Grieve as a Child
Paul expresses the depths of pain and healing an adoptee undergoes who has suffered complex trauma via relinquishment and adoption via his artwork and writing.
UK Intercountry Adoptees Webinar
ICAV UK shares a panel of intercountry adoptee answers to questions asked by UK adoptive parents from AdoptionUK via a webinar run on 30 Jan 2023.
Your Grief is Your Gift
Through her poetry, Kamina explores adoption, relinquishment and her lifelong journey of discovery.
Vietnamese adopted brother and sister find each other through DNA
An unexpected DNA match between brother and sister, both separately adopted out of Vietnam to different countries, provides a unique story as intercountry adoptees.
How to Truly Save and Help a Child
Jessica shares the realities of intercountry adoption and what people can do to help a vulnerable child in need, challenging the usual narrative of adoption.
Being Adopted
Marcella shares on how being adopted has impacted her being.
Grief in Adoption
Cosette shares deep feelings of grief during her life, coming to terms with all she's lost and might never know. Being adopted means living deep grief.
Confirmation that we are born as adoptees
Hollee shares on the significance of having access to information about our origins as adoptees.
An Adoptee’s Thoughts on Haaland vs Brackeen
Patrick shares on the current Haaland vs Brackeen case that challenges the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and asks why family preservation isn't the focus.
One Adoptee’s Thoughts on the UN Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoptions
Lynelle shares her thoughts on the UN Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoption.
Agent Orange Awareness Month
Lynelle shares thoughts of October as Agent Orange Awareness Month which triggers a deeper look into how she came to be sent abroad as a Vietnamese adoptee.
Suicide Amongst Adoptees
Hilbrand shares about the trauma in relinquishment and adoption and the connection with suicide amongst adoptees.
Adoptee Artists
Art is an incredibly powerful tool to convey the complexities of lived experience in adoption. Here is a compilation of the artwork presented at ICAV.
Meg at K-Box Adoptee Takeover Night
Meg O'Shea presents her comic about returning and searching in Korea at our 9 Sept 2022 K-Box Adoptee Takeover Night in Melbourne, Australia.
Ebony at K-Box Adoptee Takeover Night
Ebony Hickey is a Haitian born intercountry adoptee to Australia whose contemporary artwork we included at the K-Box Adoptee Take Over Night.
Ryan at K-Box Adoptee Takeover Night
K-Box Take Over Night at the Malthouse Theatre, 9 Sept 2022 highlighting adoptee artist Ryan Gustafsson, Korean adoptee and academic.
Adoptee Review of Ra Chapman’s K-Box Play
by Kayla Curtis, Korean adoptee raised in Australia, social worker and counsellor specialising in adoption. I want to share some reflections from going along to the K-Box Adoptee Takeover Night at the Malthouse and seeing Ra Chapman's K-Box play in Melbourne, Australia on 9 September. Personally, I am feeling an excitement from seeing K-Box because …
Being Illegally Adopted and a Forced Reunion
Aimee shares about her illegal adoption from Taiwan and being forced into reunion through media involvement and her first mother and adoptive parent wishes.
The Feeling of Not Belonging Anywhere
Michelle shares the complexities as an intercountry adoptee and the ongoing feeling of not belonging and how this underlies her many medical diagnoses.
Identifying with our Genetic Mirrors
Ben shares on the importance of genetic mirrors as an intercountry adoptee and coming to terms with being adopted in our video series to educate about adoption.
A Life has been Lived Before Adoption
Meseret shares about the complexities of being adopted at an older age, having memories of life before adoption, learning how to trust her new adoptive family.