Category: Lifelong Impacts of Adoption

Grief in Adoption

On By Guest BloggerIn Adoptees Educate, China, Complexities in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Return to Birth Country, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

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

On By Guest BloggerIn Adoptee Birthdays, Adoptee Names, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Birth Parents Searching, Complexities in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Impacts to Biological Families, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Search and Reunion in Adoption, South Korea, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

Hollee shares on the significance of having access to information about our origins as adoptees.

An Adoptee’s Thoughts on Haaland vs Brackeen

On By Guest BloggerIn Adoptee Activism, Adoptees Educate, adoption reform, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Family Preservation, Grief and Loss, Impacts to Biological Families, Importance of Connections to Origins, Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Rights in Adoption, South Korea, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn 1993 Hague Convention, Adoptee Activism, Adoptees Educate, adoption reform, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Denmark, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Family Preservation, France, Germany, Greece, Grief and Loss, Haiti, Hong Kong, Illegal Adoption, Illicit Adoption, Impacts to Biological Families, Importance of Connections to Origins, Iran, Is adoption the best option, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, New Zealand, Norway, Origins Search, Philippines, Rights in Adoption, Romania, Russia, Search and Reunion in Adoption, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, Uganda, UK, UN Joint Statement Illegal Adoption, USA, Vietnam, What is an Illegal and Illicit Adoption?4 Comments

Lynelle shares her thoughts on the UN Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoption.

A Question for Adoption Agencies

On By Guest BloggerIn 1993 Hague Convention, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Agencies, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, adoption reform, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Is adoption the best option, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Rights in Adoption, South Korea, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

Cameron asks adoption agencies how well they are incorporating adoptee voices and adoptee led research into their practice and policy.

Agent Orange Awareness Month

On By lynellelongIn Adoptees Educate, Adoption and Disability, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Family Preservation, Gratitude in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Impacts to Biological Families, Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Origins Search, Special Medical Conditions, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, VietnamLeave a comment

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

On By Guest BloggerIn 1993 Hague Convention, Abandonment and Rejection, Abuse in Adoption, Adoptee Anger, Adoption and Disability, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Adoptive Country, Birth Country, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Impacts to Biological Families, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Racism in Adoption, Rights in Adoption, South Korea, Suicide, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

Hilbrand shares about the trauma in relinquishment and adoption and the connection with suicide amongst adoptees.

Adoptee Artists

On By lynellelongIn Adoptee Artists, Adoptee Artwork, Adoptee support provided by adoptees, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Adoptive Country, Birth Country, Diversity in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn Adoptee Activism, Adoptee Artists, Adoptee Artwork, Adoptees Educate, Australia, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Diversity in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not Knowing in Adoption, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn Adoptee Activism, Adoptee Artists, Adoptee Artwork, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Complexities in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Haiti, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Origins Search, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn Adoptee Activism, Adoptee Artists, Adoptee Artwork, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, South Korea, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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

On By Guest BloggerIn Adoptee Artists, Adoptee Artwork, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Complexities in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, South Korea, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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 …

Continue reading Adoptee Review of Ra Chapman’s K-Box Play

Being Illegally Adopted and a Forced Reunion

On By lynellelongIn Adoptee Anger, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Birth Parents Searching, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Illegal Adoption, Illicit Adoption, Impacts to Biological Families, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not ready for Reunion, Origins Search, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Taiwan, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn Abuse in Adoption, Adoptee Anger, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Eating Disorder and Adoption, Family Preservation, Gratitude in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Korea, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Racism in Adoption, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Sense of Belonging, South Korea, Suicide, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Brazil, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Racial Mirrors, Sense of BelongingLeave a comment

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

On By lynellelongIn Adjustment and Transition, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Ethiopia, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Older Age Adoptions, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

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.

Finding Peace after Adoption

On By lynellelongIn Abuse in Adoption, Adjustment and Transition, Adoptee Anger, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Australia, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Family Preservation, Grief and Loss, Haiti, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Not Knowing in Adoption, Older Age Adoptions, Origins Search, Racism in Adoption, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Sense of Belonging, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

Jonas shares on the complexities of being an intercountry adoptee, ending up on the streets at age 13 and getting his life back as an adult to find his peace.

Bolivian Adoptee Anthology Book Review

On By lynellelongIn Abandonment and Rejection, Abuse in Adoption, Adoptee Anger, Adoptee Artists, Adoptee Artwork, Adoptee support provided by adoptees, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Book, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, DNA Searching, France, Gratitude in Adoption, Importance of Connections to Origins, Italy, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Norway, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Racial Mirrors, Racism in Adoption, Return to Birth Country, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

Lynelle provides a review of the Bolivian adoptee anthology Communal Histories of Displacement and Adoption by the Network of Bolivian Adoptees

Embracing Therapy as an Adoptee

On By Guest BloggerIn Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Complexities in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not Knowing in Adoption, Origins Search, Russia, Sense of Belonging, Therapy, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

Oleg shares the journey from being ashamed of needing therapy to fully embracing and recognising the benefits it added to his life as an intercountry adoptee.

Money never makes up for what I’ve lost as a First Nations Canadian

On By Guest BloggerIn adoption reform, Australia, Birth Parents Searching, Compensation to Victims in Adoption, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Family Preservation, First Nations Canada, Grief and Loss, Illegal Adoption, Impacts to Biological Families, Importance of Connections to Origins, Is adoption the best option, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Reparation in Adoption, Rights in Adoption, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

Jen shares complex emotions following the Canadian government compensation to First Nations Canadians forcibly removed from their families and adopted out.

Why are Dutch Adoptive Parents Silent En-masse?

On By Guest BloggerIn adoption reform, Adoptive parents silence on illegal adoptions, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, Illegal Adoption, Importance of Connections to Origins, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Not Knowing in Adoption, Politics of Adoption, The Netherlands, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

Hilbrand Westra discusses the politics in adoption and why adoptive parents involved in historic practices remain silent, leaving adoptees to advocate alone.

Adoptee Fear and Vulnerability

On By Guest BloggerIn Abandonment and Rejection, Adoptee vulnerability, Adoptees Educate, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Complexities in Adoption, Grief and Loss, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Not Knowing in Adoption, Russia, Sense of Belonging, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in Adoption, USALeave a comment

Oleg shares on the fear and vulnerability so many adoptees live and being brave to open up and trust his adoptive mother to understand and support his journey.

Search and Reunion in Intercountry Adoption

On By lynellelongIn Adoptee Search Service Orgs, Adoptee support provided by adoptees, Adoption Education for Adoptive Parents, Adoption Education for Professionals, Adoptive Country, Birth Country, Birth Parents Searching, Complexities in Adoption, Critical Thinking in Adoption, DNA Searching, Importance of Connections to Origins, Key Themes in Search and Reunion, Lifelong Impacts of Adoption, Multiple Identities, Not Knowing in Adoption, Not ready for Reunion, Origins Search, Search and Reunion in Adoption, Sense of Belonging, Transracial Adoption, Trauma in AdoptionLeave a comment

Lynelle provides a summary of ICAVs 2016 Perspective Paper: Search & Reunion - Impacts & Outcomes