Söker efter min familj i Colombia

The following blog series will be dedicated to our Searching in Intercountry Adoption series. These individual stories are being shared from our Perspektivpapper that was also shared with our Webinar, Searching in Intercountry Adoption by Adoptee Experts.

förbi Jose Taborda, born in Colombia, raised in the USA

First journal entry by my adoptive mother

In the spring of 1978, I was born in Medellin, Colombia. Separated from my first family by adoption, I was brought by my adoptive parents to New Jersey and grew up with my younger adoptive sister in a Northern New Jersey suburb just outside of New York City.

I was lucky as an adoptee because my adoptive parents made a conscious decision to talk to me about my adoption from an early age. They attended a couple of workshops about adopting a child offered by an adoption agency prior to my adoption where they had been counselled to inform me as soon as possible about my adoption so as to normalise it for me. This advice informed their approach in terms of collecting information and artefacts of my adoption. This included stories of my adoption in Colombia in the form of journal entries written by my adoptive mother, a photograph of my first mother, and my adoption records containing identifying information about my first mother.

Upon refection, it wasn’t just luck and good advice, my parents were compassionate people who made the decision to share what they knew about my origins with me throughout my life. They had the right instincts that led them not only to send me a dossier containing every artefact about my adoption while I was in college and I first expressed an interest in searching, but also to support my search when I began.

When I moved to New York City in my mid-twenties, I started searching. At the time, I had a Yahoo! Email account and noticed that it offered searchable interest groups. There was a group called Colombian Adoptee Search and Support (CASAS), which gathered many people like me: twenty-something Colombian adoptees who grew up around New York City and living in the area! I was shocked to find hundreds of people who were sharing resources about searching, so I started making connections and attending meetups and dinners in Brooklyn and Manhattan where we enjoyed sharing stories and Latino fare.

Through these meetups, I had gotten the contact information of a private investigator in Medellin with whom I started to interact about my search. Because I had identifying information about my first mother, it took him two weeks to find her. A couple weeks after that, I had my first phone call with her. As one can imagine, finding my first mother within a month of beginning my search was all a whirlwind and very overwhelming. My excitement got the best of me, and I dove right into making plans for a reunion. Well, all of this came as a shock to my adoptive mother and sister, who weren’t as excited as me. They felt threatened by my news. I remember spending a lot of time convincing them that I wasn’t trying to replace them, but rather, it would be an opportunity to learn about my origins. They were not convinced that it was so simple. Searching for first family by adoptees may bring up many past trauma wounds for all members of the adoption constellation. I have heard stories of adoptees shying away from doing any searching while their adoptive parents are still alive due to the raw emotions around adoption that are very rarely acknowledged and dealt with during an adoptive family’s time living together. And when the possibility of a reunion arises, adoptees may find themselves having to reckon with these complicated emotions. This reckoning is not our responsibility as adoptees, but it may be an unanticipated and unwelcome reality that adoptees must face when searching and reuniting with first family.

Coincidentally, the film “Las Hijas” was going to be screened. It was timely that Maria Quiroga, a local filmmaker, was releasing the film profiling three female Colombian adoptees and their reunions with first family. So I invited my mother and sister to join me. It was an interesting experience because the filmmaker handled the subject matter responsibly in presenting the reality of how complicated reunions between adoptees and first family can be. It helped to see this objective perspective on the emotionally charged situation that was playing out for us. It provided a context for our sensitive conversations, and it helped us to understand that we were not the only ones experiencing the feelings we were. Despite all of that, we continued to have conversations that required my soothing their frayed feelings around my upcoming reunion.

One thing that stands out for me now sixteen years later as I reflect on my reunion as a young man, is that I did not pursue any mental health support to guide me on that complicated endeavour. In my local adoptee community, the discussion was more centred on the topic of search and reunion in my memory and not as much on adoption mental health issues. However, I acknowledge there is a high likelihood my antenna wasn’t tuned to that particular signal, so to speak. More recently, I have read a lot of highly-respected literature about adoption and mental health including Primalsåret by Nancy Verrier and Journey of the Adopted Self by Betty Jean Lifton to name a couple of outstanding examples. I am a regular listener to adoptee podcasts including Adoptees On with host Haley Radke and Adapted with host Kaomi Lee among others. I have met many adoptees and I am lucky to live close to an adoptee organization called Also Known As, Inc. that hosts meet ups for transracial, intercountry adoptees. Wise adoptees and adoption professionals these days counsel adoptees who are engaged in reunion to set some boundaries that include having a third-party present during reunion meetings, not staying with first family right away, and pursuing therapy before, during, and after reunion. I did none of those things.

All of this gathering of resources and self-education on the intersection of adoption and mental health has demonstrated to me that I took a very impetuous, uninformed, and quite risky path on my reunion journey. I stayed with my first mother and her family for three weeks at their home in an outlying municipality of Medellin. I do have very positive memories from my first visit in 2006 that led me to return in the two subsequent years. However, somewhere down the line some members of my first family started to develop expectations that involved money. It was not much at first, but, with time, their boldness grew. This expectation made me uncomfortable because I didn’t want to have to explain to any of them that I am a professional in a field that is not very highly-compensated. To them, I was just the more fortunate one who was able to escape their humble circumstances. No matter how difficult my personal situation was, they are right that I had many more opportunities in the U.S. than they did in Colombia, but I did not feel that it was my responsibility to have to provide for them. I wanted to just get to know them knowing that it would take time to develop a family bond. Truly, I faced hard feelings when they asked for money and that made things very confusing for me. While I know that my experience is not unique, I wished that it wasn’t part of my reunion story. At some point, I stopped contacting them because it all became too much for me. This is where an intervention such as adoption-focused therapy would have been helpful.

Some years passed and I turned the page on my adoption by quite literally ceasing to think about my adoption and pausing all the actions I had taken to learn about my origins during my twenties. I turned thirty, I got married and became a new father, and I wanted to focus on my new family in Brooklyn. I was also in graduate school, so juggling responsibilities was the theme starting in 2010. Since that time, a lot has changed.

Nowadays, I am divorced, I am co-parenting a budding teenager, and I have settled into a career as a college educator. As I moved into middle-age, I became more introspective, and I found myself interrogating some difficult feelings that felt like depression and anxiety. When I realised that I did not have easy answers to that line of inquiry, I began searching for ways to remove barriers to happiness that had started showing up. It started to dawn on me that my adoption may be the cause of some of my bad decisions in life and the source of a feeling of malaise that crept in every now and again. I remember once sitting on a beach in the Rockaways with my best friend and confidant of many years and reflecting out loud that I should look into therapy for adoption to try to answer some nagging questions.

About six months after that conversation in 2021, I got around to doing some basic internet searching and was amazed by what I found. There was so much work that had been done in the intervening years since I started my search. As I previously mentioned, I went down a path of self-education, I engaged in some adoption-focused group therapy, and I have been attending online and in-person support groups made up of adoptees since that discovery. I have learned so much about myself and adoption since I started to reconnect to my adopted-self. Some of it has been difficult, but I am very happy to have opened myself up to feel, meditate, inquire, grieve, and build community. It is cliche, but I wish I knew during my reunion and prior what I know now.

In short, I hope that adoptees who are on the bold path of searching and reuniting with first family will take careful, well-informed steps. I know from my experience that there are no easy answers, and reunion may be when many hard questions rise to the surface. However, that search for the discovery and recovery of self and identity is worth it all because even if one does not find first family, there is so much to learn about oneself along the way.

I hope that adoptees take the time to explore all of the particular intersections of adoption and mental health including, but not limited to, the Primal Wound theory, the post-traumatic stress implications of adoption, ambiguous loss, and the Adoptee Consciousness Model. Most definitely read the two books by Verrier and Lifton previously mentioned. Check out Damon Davis’ podcast Who Am I Really?, and the two others previously mentioned. Read JaeRan Kim’s brilliant blog Harlows apa. If looking for a therapist in the U.S., check out Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker’s adoptee therapist directory curated on her website Grow Beyond Words. If one does not have the money to pursue therapy, there are plenty of books, podcasts, and support groups that could provide information and resources helpful in informing decisions around searching, finding, and reunion with first family. Just start checking out all of the amazing resources on Lynelle Long’s comprehensive treasure of a website InterCountry Adoptee Voices. Search on Facebook for a group you can join that holds online support groups, or, even better, search for a local group in your area to meet up in person with adoptees. A great place to search for a local group in the USA is on Pamela A. Karanova’s website Adoptees Connect.

The above is just a cursory glance at some of the most salient resources I have found that have nourished my soul as I step into more consciousness about my adoption on my journey of self-discovery. My greatest hope is that someone reading these words may find something in them to hold onto.

Coming Next: Söker efter min familj i Kina

Resurser

Search and Reunion in Intercountry Adoption

maj 20, 2023maj 19, 2023

Webinarium för att söka i Intercountry Adoption by Adoptee Experts

On 23 April 2023, ICAV ran a panel webinar to bring you the expertise of our Search professionals around the world, sharing their best words of wisdom for what to consider when undergoing searching in intercountry adoption. They directly represented adoptee organisations from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Sth Korea, Haiti, Colombia and Greece.

Watch the webinar here:
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Timecode

For those who are time poor and want to skip to the sections that are relevant, here is a timecode to assist:

00:20 Intro, Welcome, Purpose
04:30 Intro of panelists
04:39 Marcia Engel
06:48 Rebecca Payot
09:29 Jonas Desír
10:25 Linda Carol Trotter
12:55 Kayla Curtis
15:22 Hilbrand Westra
17:44 Benoît Vermeerbergen
21:00 Celin Fässler

Questions / Answers

23:28 What does the general search process involve? – Kayla
27:30 What should adoptees to do prepare? – Linda, Marcia
35:51 What are some of the outcomes? – Jonas, Kayla, Linda
46:50 Some possible barriers to expect? – Rebecca, Linda
56:51 What ethics to consider? – Marcia, Kayla
1:06:40 What should a search cost? – Rebecca, Linda, Celin
1:11:46 Who to trust? Hilbrand, Jonas
1:16:16 What issues to consider in DNA testing? – Benoît
1:19:18 What outcomes can result with DNA testing? – Benoît
1:20:40 What DNA tests do you recommend? Benoït, Marcia
1:23:51 What are the advantages of using an adoptee led search org? – Celin, Marcia
1:28:28 What was involved in becoming a trusted Government funded search org? – Celin
1:30:36 What is needed most from Governments to help adoptees in our searching? – Hilbrand, Marcia

Summary of Key Messages

Klick här for a pdf of our Key Messages from each panelist

Resurser

Huge thanks to the 26 adoptees who wanted to share their experiences of searching so that others can gain a deeper understanding. They represent experiences of 13 birth countries (China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam), sent to 9 adoptive countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Scotland, Sweden, UK, USA).

ICAVs newest Perspective Paper on Searching in Intercountry Adoption

For more resources, see our Searching & Reunion page

april 3, 2023april 4, 2023

kära mamma och pappa

förbi Jen Etherington, född som First Nations-kanadensare och adopterad till en australisk familj

Kära mamma och pappa,

Det har gått 34 år sedan du lämnade denna planet . Hur jag önskade hela mitt liv att jag kunde ha träffat dig. Jag är inte säker på när sista gången du träffade mig var. Jag är säker på att du inte trodde att det var sista gången du någonsin skulle få träffa mig. Jag vet att ni visste var jag hamnade. Jag vet att pappa kände min pappa som adopterade mig.

Kerry och Steve (mamma och pappa) är två av de mest fantastiska människor du någonsin kan träffa. De är, tror jag precis som ni, älskade av i stort sett alla de möter. Jag fick en lillebror av Kerry och Steve när jag var tre år gammal. Han heter Josh och vi kom så bra överens när vi var barn. Vi hade väldigt få slagsmål. Jag tycker om att tycka att det är en fantastisk kombination av våra personligheter och att den är uppfostrad av Kerry och Steve.

Du kommer att bli glad att veta att jag hade en fantastisk barndom. När jag var 7 fick vi en annan lillebror som hette Brody. BroBro och jag var mer lika eftersom vi båda är mer sociala och extroverta. Josh, Brody och jag kom väldigt bra överens. Kerry och Steve uppfostrade oss med stora värderingar. Vi uppfostrades och flyttade nära Theravadas meditationscenter på Australiens östkust. Jag träffade några underbarn där som jag anser vara kusiner. Jag tänkte att om jag blev adopterad fick jag adoptera min egen familj också.

Jag hade några svårigheter i barndomen, inklusive skoningslös mobbning för rasism samt objektifiering. Det var alltid av ett barn som heter "Johnno" oavsett vart jag gick . Jag hade turen att ha starka vänner runt mig som hjälpte mig att inte låta det förstöra min personlighet.

Vi växte upp med nästan varje semester med hela familjen eftersom det var viktigt för dem att ha mycket tid med familjen. Vi åkte på underbara semester och campade, bodde på husvagnsparker vid stranden, gick på milstolpeutställningar som expo 88 med familjen och bodde i ett härligt hus. Vi kom till Kanada för många helgdagar eftersom Steves mamma bodde i Victoria. Jag vet att Kerrys dröm för mig var att träffa dig när jag var redo. Jag vet att hon var knäckt när hon hörde nyheten om att du dog. Jag var förvirrad. Jag visste att jag var adopterad hela tiden eftersom jag såg annorlunda ut än Kerry, Steve, Josh och Brody. När jag fick frågan om jag ville gå på din begravning var jag 9 år och inte säker på hur jag skulle bearbeta det och ångrar nu att jag inte kom dit.

Jag hade en ganska bra skolupplevelse förutom mobbning och sexuella övergrepp. Jag får höra att jag är smart som pappa. Jag anstränger mig sällan för att använda intelligensen. Jag är inte säker på om det är självbevarelsedrift att inte sticka ut mer än jag gör.

Det var en tredje person som uppfostrade mig och hon var fantastisk. Hon var min faster, Nanette. Jag älskade henne så mycket och hon var en otrolig person. Redan innan nummerpresentation på telefoner visste jag alltid när hon ringde. Nanette gav mig också bort på mitt bröllop. Mitt bröllop var för 20 år sedan för två dagar sedan. Mannen jag gifte mig med var ingen trevlig person. Jag hade mycket övergrepp från honom. Vi separerade som tur var 10 år efter att vi träffades. Jag hade inga barn och jag hade terapi i 12 månader för det. Jag kämpade för att vara ok med om jag någonsin skulle få barn. Jag kan inte föreställa mig hur det var för dig att förlora mig och jag var så orolig att jag skulle återuppleva den upplevelsen och hur det var för dig.

Jag är inte säker på var min empati kommer ifrån men det är en välsignelse och en förbannelse. Jag fick två missfall och bara det andra hörde jag hjärtslag. Detta är en bild på mig igår på jobbet. De hade harmonisdag och de satte upp vår totem.

Jag har så mycket att jag ville fråga dig och berätta. Jag älskar dig mamma och pappa. Jag har en underbar familj nu – min mamma och pappa (Kerry och Steve), mina bröder, mina syskonbarn och min partner James. Min moster gick tyvärr bort men jag är så tacksam att jag fick tid med henne.

Läs Jens tidigare blogg: Pengar tar aldrig igen det jag har förlorat som First Nations-kanadensare

Resurs

Första nationerna i Kanada

Över 200 stulna First Nations-barn hittades i kanadensisk omärkt grav

The Stolen Generations – Kanada och Australien: arvet efter assimilering

mars 5, 2023mars 3, 2023

Att lära sig att sörja som ett barn

förbi Paul Brian Tovey, en brittisk inhemsk adopterad och begåvad artist, adopterad förespråkare, skapare av 2022 Global Anon Adoptee Survey

Jag fyllde i nyanserna av en annan linjebild igår av "Dogpache" som dansar med två Dogohawks och märkte senare inflammation som kom genom min kropp och armar ...

Jag gör flera upprepningar av bilder och de ger ofta en djup vandring av adopterade känslor .. I mitt fall är ett kärntrauma att misshandla och använda barn efter adoptionen ..

Långsamt ekar bildervandringen mina känslor och visar också nya vinklar och prismor som jag använder för att lösa smärta.. I min typ av terapi kan jag göra när som helst nu, eftersom jag är pensionerad, är jag tränad att tillåta känslorna att vara vad de vill bli.

Så mina armar gick upp i luften och in i klorna och då kom bilder på min födelsemamma in i mitt sinne..Jag kände mig som ett barn som kliade sig i ansiktet. Och det gjorde jag i mina "image-sfärer" och i luften .. Jag är ganska rationell, galen, och allt är bra .. Jag har ett välutvecklat kreativt sinne ..

Födelsemamma lämnade mig vid 3 och det kärnområdet är omgivet av senare missbruk av min kropp .. Hon kände personen hon lämnade mig med så långt tillbaka som 1940 när födelsemamma var 7 år .. Hur som helst, jag kände de smärtsamma känslorna, men ett annat prisma återvände av en fast mun .. Dämpade språk. Var säker … SÄG INGENTING……Tryck på att tala dock..

Äntligen bröt smärtan ut ur mitt yl-mun-barn-hål i lösande skrik som var som ett spökebarn som ylade efter mamma ... Det är bara ytterligare ett prisma i det massiva fragmenteringsfältet av tidig barndom som läker för mig .. Hur löser det sig. ? Genom att vara och bli sig själv .. Genom att äntligen tillåta vara, att vara inuti vara som sig själv .. Att sörja som det barnet delar ... Det är sanning fördröjt förvisso men kan terapeutiskt återupplevas ....

Gör det ont ? När det är i stadierna av inflammationer ja... Du slår vad om, för kroppen döljer en gammal "lögn" från det tidiga sinnet som ändå försökte skydda mig från fasan..Jag behöver inget skydd nu (stackars autohjärna) i själva verket behöver jag vara hela mig .. Hålls som mig av mig .. Det är allt ..

Nu är jag äntligen gammal nog att vara ung igen och känna saker från mitt olika förflutna eftersom jag har utvecklat en hjärna som kan hålla allt ..Det är en långsam väg tillbaka till känsla-anknytning och den formen av inre integritet. Jag noterar att det är nödvändigt att släppa ut sorgen av: "Vem borde ha varit där och inte var där" ...

Det är poängen med att reducera det otillfredsställda behovet (av mamma) till lösbar sorg och gråt..."Mammaeeeeee"... "Howlllll".. Jag har varit på en långsam väg mot att acceptera det som hände, men det som hände var under många år med smärta. .. Det är därför jag fortfarande blir vän med monster i konst och får dem att gråta och landskap också att yla ..

OWWWWWLLLL OWWWWOOOOOO…. Jag älskar tjut som befriar min tidiga primala själ som var kedjad till dissociativa känslomässiga fängelser..Jag har lärt mig att sörja som ett barn som stoppades från att sörja... Jag är här i mig själv ... jag har kommit .. Jag är hemma i min hud bättre och det är sorgligt på ett mer positivt sätt bara för att tragedi är ..

februari 23, 2023maj 18, 2023

UK Intercountry Adoptees Webinar

Den 30 januari 2023 deltog en liten grupp interlandsadopterade i Storbritannien i ett panelevenemang för webbseminarium för att dela sina tankar och erfarenheter med adoptivförälderorganisationen, AdoptionUK.

I det här webbseminariet får du träffa Sarah Hilder adopterad från Sri Lanka, Joshua Aspden adopterad från Ecuador, Emma Estrella adopterad från Brasilien, Meredith Armstrong adopterad från Kina och Claire Martin adopterad från Hong Kong. Tillsammans svarar vi på några frågor som adoptivföräldrar kl AdoptionUK fråga.

Se webbinariet och nedan finns en tidskod, nyckelmeddelanden och relevanta resurser.
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Tidskod för webbseminarium

00:20 Intro från AdoptionUK
01:03 Intro från Lynelle från ICAV
02:44 Sarah Hilder
03:35 Claire Martin
05:34 Meredith Armstrong
07:39 Emma Estrela
09:39 Joshua Aspden
12:17 Hur man skyddar mig från bedragare när jag söker efter familj – Lynelle
17:23 Tips för att närma sig livsberättelsearbete – Meredith
20:54 Känner du att livet skulle ha varit bättre om du hade blivit adopterad av en familj i ditt födelseland?
21:27 Josua
24:56 Emma
28:00 Vad vill vi att adoptivföräldrar ska veta när vi börjar med en internationell adoption?
28:24 Claire
32:25 Meredith
35:12 Sara
38:24 Emma
40:24 Josua
43:34 Lynelle
45:30 Vad förbinder dig mest med ditt arv?
45:45 Sarah
48:23 Claire
49:30 Joshua
51:07 Planerar du att besöka fosterfamiljen, några tips eller råd för att hantera de stora känslor som kommer att dyka upp för den adopterade?
51:30 Meredith
52:24 Emma
54:25 Lynelle
56:24 Jo slut och tack

Sammanfattning av webinariets nyckelmeddelanden

Klicka här för en pdf dokumentera

Relevanta resurser

Kan vi ignorera eller förneka att rasism existerar för adopterade av färg?

Att få kontakt med färgade personer är inte automatiskt för transracial adopterade

Rasresurser för adoptivföräldrar

Kulturresurser för adoptivföräldrar

Global lista över stöd efter adoption som är specifikt för adopterade mellan länder

Vikten av stöd före och efter adoption

Sök och återföreningsresurser

Tankar till adoptivföräldrar

februari 14, 2023februari 13, 2023

Reagerar känsligt på rädslor för att bli övergivna

förbi Lyla M, Chinese adoptee raised in the USA

“What’s that key around your neck?” – I get that question as much as I get questioned about where I’m from.

I wear a golden key around my neck. I’ve been wearing it that way for ten years.

It says, “Togetherness is love, 10.02.62” on one side and “M. T.” on the other.

My mom, being a rebel, decided to skip school with a childhood best friend. They wandered the streets of New York City. They found the key. They tried to find the owner/place it went to. However, it had been thrown into the middle of street, so they were unsuccessful. My mom and best friend always thought it was a lover’s quarrel. Key thrown away in anger.

Fast forward to when my mom adopted me.

When I was little, I had a fear my parents would not come home to me after a date night.

My mom would say, “Take this golden key from this tower, keep it with you. We’ll be home when you’re sleeping and you can personally give it to me in the morning.” It gave me a sense of security. Like my mom and dad were with me and would return.

When I graduated high school, I had chosen to attend college out of state. As a gift, my mom had the golden key strung and gave it to me as a gift, as a promise to always be with me, that my mom and dad would always be there, at home, waiting for me to come home, key in hand (or around neck, to be precise).

A little story about a key shaped like a heart in honour of Valentine’s Day.

februari 11, 2023februari 10, 2023

Ett privilegium, inte en rättighet

förbi Kamina Hall, en svart, transracial, sent upptäckt adopterad i USA

They say it’s their right, their right to create and own a life,
Interestingly enough, this is a perception as old as buying a wife.
Are we nothing more than cattle, to be traded and sold?
Or we are the light of the Universe, sent through her womb, more precious than gold?

Interesting the amount of studying and toiling that goes into obtaining degrees,
Yet, when forming life any and everyone is allowed to do as they please.
Change your mind, wrong color, or simply too young?
With the swipe of a pen, that new soul changes hands, and their life comes undone.

I knew your heartbeat, your voice, your smell, all before I ever saw your face,
Though their arms might have attempted to replace you, no one ever took your place.
There was a dark empty yawning void in my soul I never knew existed,
Drugs, sex, alcohol, and self-sabotage; still the madness persisted.

Vi förklarar bestämt, du kan inte äga ett liv, och att skapa det är inte din rättighet,
Själen är helt enkelt i din vård, utlånad från universum, tills den kan utkämpa sin egen kamp.
Ta på allvar de konsekvenser och krusningar du släpper ner i livets damm när du skapar,
Barn vi är för bara ett ögonblick, vuxen ser oss med högar av traumasederande.

Du kan följa Kamina på hennes Youtube-kanal – Koachen Kamina
Läs Kaminas andra gästers inlägg på ICAV:
Healing som en transracial adopterad
Din sorg är din gåva

februari 3, 2023februari 3, 2023

Vietnamesiska adopterade bror och syster hittar varandra genom DNA

Mikati is a fellow Vietnamese adoptee raised in Belgium, who joined the ICAV network some years ago, wanting to connect to those who understood the complexities of this lifelong journey. I’m honoured to be a part of her life and she told me the amazing news recently of finding and reuniting with her biological brother Georges who was also adopted, but to France. Neither knew of the other until their DNA matches showed up. Together, Mikati and Georges have shared with me their thoughts about finding each other and searching now for their Vietnamese family. Since sharing this and having their news go viral in Vietnamese media, they are currently awaiting news that they have possibly found their mother. Incredible what can be achieved these days with DNA technology and social media! Here is their story as reunited brother and sister.

About Your Life

Georges

I’ve been adopted in 1996 by French parents and my Vietnamese name is Trương Vanlam. I live in Noisy-le-Grand, a little Parisian suburb near the river Marne. I happily live with my cat and girlfriend.

My life in France (childhood to present) meant I’ve grown up in the countryside surrounded by medieval castles, fields and forests. It has not always been easy to be different in a place where Asian people were very rare to encounter. I was a shy kid but I was happy to have the love of my adoptive family and some friends. Later, I studied in Paris, a pluri-ethnic place with a lot of people from different origins. I have an interest in arts like theatre and cinema and I’ve started to develop short films with my friends. I am not shy anymore but creative and more confident.

My adoptive parents were very happy to see me for Christmas. They are retired and they don’t leave their village very often like before. They try to help me as much as they can and are happy about my reconnection to my new found sister, Mikati. I trust and respect my adoptive parents and they trust me and respect me equally.

I teach cinema, video editing and graphics with Adobe suite to adults and teens. I’m making videos and one day, I hope to become a movie director.

Mikati

I was born in 1994 and adopted to Belgium in June 1995 at 7 months of age. I currently live in Kortrijk in West-Flanders, Belgium. My childhood was in Anzegem, not so far from Kortrijk.

I have been able to develop and grow up in Belgium. I have some dear friends. I have a nice job. Over the years I have made beautiful trips in and out of Europe and met many people. I have done two studies – orthopedagogy and social work. Here I learned how important human, children’s and women’s rights are. I have been working for a non-profit organization for years. I follow up families in socially vulnerable situations and connect them with a student who is studying at the college or university. I did not study to be a teacher, but it is true that I do train students about how they can work with vulnerable families, how they can reflect on their actions, etc.

My childhood wasn’t all that fantastic. As an intercountry adoptee, I grew up in a white environment. That environment had little respect for my original roots. Sometimes I would walk down the street and hear racial slurs from people I didn’t know. As much as I tried to assimilate, I didn’t forget my roots.

My Vietnamese name is Pham Thi Hoa Sen which says a lot about what my life has been like. I grew up to turn out beautiful but I grew up in mud just like a lotus flower. A thorough screening could have prevented a lot. My adoptive parents are not bad people and they did their best, but they underestimated the care needed for children adopted internationally. My adoptive mother already had two children from a previous marriage that she was no longer allowed to see. She was mentally unable to raise children. My adoptive parents are burdened by trauma that they have not worked through. At that time there was also little to no psychological support and guidance for adoptive parents. It was very difficult growing up with them. It is by seeking help for myself and talking to people about it, that I am more aware of life. Just because you mean well and have good intentions does not mean that you are acting right.

About Your Reunion

Georges

It has been surreal, like a dream and a little bit frightening to be found by my sister because all my beliefs about my personal history are now unsure. The first days, I remember repeating again and again, “I’ve got an elder sister, I’ve got an elder sister”. Then we started to talk and get to know each other more and it became more real. Now I’m very happy and proud to have Mikati as my sister. It’s very strange because even though we met only two weeks ago, I feel like I have know her for a long time. For me, it’s a new step in my life, the beginning of a journey where I will connect more with her, with Vietnam, where we will try to discover our family story, I hope.

Mikati is a strong and caring woman who is always trying to help others despite having encountered many difficulties in her life. She’s very passionate, clever, funny and above all I respect and admire the person she is. We like to discuss many things from important subjects like international adoptions and smaller subjects like the life of our respective cats or tv series or why Belgians are so proud to eat French fries with mayonnaise. I don’t know why but I’ve quickly felt a connection with her. It could be because of our shared DNA but I think it’s more probably because she is fundamentally fantastic as a person. I like to tease her a little sometime and she’s very patient with me and my jokes! We’ve got our differences of course, but siblings always have differences. I’m very glad to have her in my life.

Mikati

1.5 years ago I decided to take a DNA test through MyHeritage (a commercial DNA-kit). To get a bit of an indication of where my roots come from. Through the result I got a little more information about ethnicity and I saw distant relatives. It was cool to know something because I know very little about my roots. I hadn’t looked at MyHeritage in a long time until early December 2022. I have no idea why exactly as I didn’t even get a notification. To my surprise, I saw that I had a new match. It wasn’t just any distant relative, it was my brother! He lived in a neighbouring country, France!

You have to know that I just woke up when I looked at my mobile phone, so I immediately sent a message to some close friends and my guidance counsellor at the Descent Center. I wanted to know if I was dreaming. Finally I got the confirmation from the experts at the Descent Center that my DNA result were real and we share over 2500 centimorgans! That means he is not half but rather, a full brother.

I was so happy! So many emotions raced through my body that day. I saw a lot of people who were also adopted at an event that day. Most of them were a great support. Most were as happy and moved as I was. A minority reacted rather short, jealous or gave unsolicited advice about anything and everything. I also understand their feelings. It is an exceptional situation that triggers many emotions. Those emotions of others made it sometimes overwhelming for me.

I contacted Georges through Facebook. I wondered if he had already seen it. When he didn’t reply, a friend gave me his LinkedIn profile that had his email address on it. I felt like a little stalker but I decided to send him an email as well. I sent him a little text and gave him the option to get in touch if he wanted to. When he answered, he introduced himself and asked a few questions. The contact was open, enthusiastic and friendly. So we are very sure of the DNA match, but some mysteries soon surfaced quickly during the first conversation. We told each other what name we got on our adoption papers. Our last names are different. I see on my adoption papers that I have the same last name as my mother. Maybe he has the father’s last name? Georges has not yet properly looked at his adoption papers, so there are still pieces of the puzzle missing.

I am happy when I connect with my brother. The contact feels so natural! We talk and joke like we have known each other for years. We both got a little emotional when we talked about our childhood but also realised how close geographically we grew up. Georges is barely 14 months younger than me. Did the orphanage ever talk to my adoptive parents and suggest taking Georges too? So that we could grow up together? What would my adoptive parents do in such a situation? With a reunion, the search for one’s identity is not over. In fact, it has opened up many more questions!

About your biological family in Vietnam

Georges

My determination to find my family in Vietnam has increased since I met my elder sister but I’ve always been curious to find more information about my biological mother and father. Growing up as an adopted child, I grew up with a perpetual mystery about my origins. It defines me, marking me forever because I’m always facing the fear of being rejected again . Like many adoptees, I grew up with this explanation: “Your first parents left you because of their poverty.” This is speculation which may be true or not and we do not know until the facts are gathered. I feel no anger about that but I want to know the real motives, the real story from their point of view. Was it their decision or not….?

Mikati is really passionate and determined in this search and about our story and she told me about the real problems caused by some organisations which have seen international adoption as a business in the 1990s. I did research to gather information based on official and independent reports from the press and UNICEF and I talked to adopted people who have been in our orphanage. I’m worried about some testimonies, about the lack of transparency in the adoption process and to adoptive parents, adopted children and biological parents and now I want to be sure if our parents gave their consent or not. I’m also determined to discover this truth and to show our journey through a documentary in order give more information about what could have been problematic in international adoption in the 1990s to year 2000. I’m not alone in this quest ,my elder sister is with me and I’m with her.

I’ve never had the opportunity to return to Vietnam yet but it is something I hope to do in the near future. I’m sure it won’t be only for fun and tourism!

You can follow Georges at Facebook, LinkedIn eller Youtube.

Mikati

I have my reasons for wanting to find my parents. Under Article 7 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child has a right to information about his or her parentage. It is also fundamental in human beings to know where they come from. As long as I don’t know the story about my biological parents, I can’t be mad. I really wonder what their
story is. I know it’s going to be hard to search. I know that commercial DNA testing is less used in Vietnam. Papers and names were sometimes forged. I don’t know if my mom actually came from My Tho. Is her name really Tuyet Mai? Right now I’m looking at it mostly inquisitively and with compassion. I want to look at the bigger picture. Why is it that parents are faced with the decision to give up a child? How can a system support parents so that such things do not have to happen again?

Recently a Vietnamese woman contacted me on social media. She told me why she had given up her child in the same orphanage as Georges and I. It has not been easy for her to find out where her child went and she continues to search for her child, even if it was more than 20 years ago. She is still saddened by the situation. If anyone can help us broaden this search, please see här.

I have lost contact with my adoptive parents, so they know nothing about my search. I’m sure my adoptive mother would have disapproved.

It would be nice if we find our parents, but we’ll see. I am very grateful for Phuc who has offered to help us search. He seems very nice. I hear from other adoptees that he is friendly and reliable. I also read articles about him and it’s unbelievable what he does to bring families together! I would find it courageous if families dare to come out for what was difficult in the past and why they gave up their child. By telling their story as biological parents, even if they feel ashamed, our society can learn and improve the future.

There are adoptees whose biological parents thought their baby was stillborn but it was actually sold for adoption. If that’s the case with our parents, they don’t even know we are alive. Our story can be everything. It’s hard to know what our case was.

I have so many unanswered questions and I would like to know my family’s story.

If I were to see my biological mother again, the first thing I would tell her is that I would like to get to know her and listen to her story.

Vietnam will always be special to me, even though I didn’t grow up there. I was 9 years old when I went back with my adoptive parents and my sister (non biological) who is also adopted. We went from North to South. Even though my adoptive mother was negative about Vietnam, she couldn’t ruin it for me. The food, the smiling people, the chaos in Ho Chi Minh and the nature in smaller villages have stayed with me. Now I’m reading more about Vietnam and talking more to Vietnamese people. I am saving up to travel to Vietnam again. Maybe alone, maybe with friends or maybe with Georges. We’ll see. But I certainly will go back and learn more about my beautiful country.

You can follow Mikati and her journey at Facebook eller Instagram.

To read Mikati and Georges’ story as published in the Vietnam media, click här and the English translation här.

december 15, 2022maj 18, 2023

Navigera funktionshinder och sällsynta medicinska tillstånd som en Intercountry Adoptee

Webinar, Perspective Paper and Resources

On 23 November, ICAV ran a webinar with 6 incredible panelists sharing lived experience as intercountry adoptees with disability and rare medical conditions.

I hope you will take the time to have a listen. Adoptees with disability and medical conditions are often invisible amongst the intercountry adoptee community and our goal was to elevate them and help to raise awareness of the extra complexities they experience.

Obs! Om du tittar i Chrome klickar du på knappen Läs mer för att titta på videon

Webinar Video Timecode

For those who are time poor, I have provided a time code so you can see exactly the parts you wish to hear.

00:00:25 Welcome – Lynelle Long

00:03:51 Acknowledgement of Country – Mallika Macleod

00:05:15 Panelists Introduction

00:05:31 Maddy Ullman

00:07:07 Wes Liu

00:09:32 Farnad Darnell

00:11:08 Emma Pham

00:12:07 Daniel N Price

00:13:19 Mallika Macleod

00:15:19 The changing definition of disability – Farnad Darnell

00:17:58 Reframing how adoptees with disability can be viewed – Mallika Macleod

00:20:39 Processing the shame and brokenness often associated with being adopted and living with disability – Wes Liu

00:23:34 Dealing with people’s reactions and expectations – Maddy Ullman

00:28:44 Sense of belonging and how it has been impacted – Emma Pham

00:30:14 Navigating the health care system – Daniel N Price

00:31:58 What helped to come to terms with living with disability – Mallika Macleod

00:35:58 How disability might add some extra complexities in reunion – Maddy Ullman

00:39:44 The dynamics between adoptive parents and what is ideal – Wes Liu

00:42:48 Preventing the risk of suicide – Daniel N Price

00:44:26 Children being sent overseas via intercountry adoption because of their disability – Farnad Darnell

00:47:09 What people need to consider when starting off adopting a child with disability with “good intentions” – Emma Pham

00:50:13 How the experience of feeling isolated changed over time – Wes Liu

00:53:25 The role of genetics in her conditions – Maddy Ullman

00:56:35 What worked when facing employment challenges – Mallika Macleod

00:59:11 Becoming self sufficient and independent – Emma Pham

01:02:42 Suggestions for adoptive parents – Daniel N Price

01:03:48 Suggestions for adoption professionals to better prepare adoptive parents – Farnad Darnell

01:06:20 How adoptive families can best discuss whether disability was the reason for relinquishment – Farnad Darnell

Summary of Key Messages from the Webinar

Klick här for a pdf document outlining the key messages from each panelist and the matching webinar video timecode.

ICAV Perspective Paper

For those who want to dive deeper and explore this topic further, we have also compiled our latest ICAV Perspective Paper which you can read här. It is a collation of lived experience perspectives offering a rare view into the lives of a dozen intercountry adoptees who live with disability and rare medical conditions. Together, these resources of the webinar and perspective paper fill a huge gap in knowledge about this subset within the intercountry adoptee community. I hope this instigates the beginning of further discussions and forums designed to help raise awareness and create better supports for and within the community.

I want to raise extra attention that within the in-depth sharing of our perspective paper and the webinar, those who contributed made numerous mentions of the heightened risk of suicide, depression, and isolation. We need to do more to better support our fellow adoptees who are most vulnerable living with disability and medical conditions.

Photography courtesy of Maddy Ullman and Wes Liu

If you have any additional resources that can help build upon what we have started, please contact ICAV or add your comment to this post, so I can continue to grow this list below.

Additional Resources

Rare Disease

#Rareis : Meet Daniel N Price – a rare disease advocate and intercountry adoptee

With Love August (intercountry adoptee August Rocha, a disabled trans man with rare disease)

Diagnostic Odysseys featuring August Roche (disabled trans intercountry adoptee with rare disease)

Once Upon a Gene – Rare disease intercountry adoption with Josh and Monica Poynter (podcast)

#Rareis: Nora’s Forever Home – a rare disease domestic adoptee

The Rare Disorder Podcast

Rare in Common (documentary of those affected by rare disease)

Rare Diseases International

Enola : an application by Medical Intelligence One that helps diagnose Rare Diseases, freely avail

One Rare – Young Adults Impacted by Rare Disease and Transitioning to Adulthood

Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network

Global Genes – Allies in Rare Disease

Disability

Adoptees with Disabilities (FB group)

International Adoptees with Disabilities (FB group)

Neurodivergent Adoptee (FB page by intercountry adoptee Jodi Gibson Moore)

We all have the power – Marusha Rowe (cerebral palsy advocate and intercountry adoptee)

Violence, Abuse, Neglect & Exploitation of Adoptees with Disability : Australian Disability Royal Commission submission by ICAV

Invisibility(ies) Session Five (video, led by domestic adoptee Nicole Rademacher who interviews adoptee artists Anu Annam, Jessica Oler, and Caleb Yee exploring how their art relates to their disability)

A Disability Primer: Reclaiming, Imagining, Creating Change (Conference recording, Nov 2022)

Unfixed – sharing stories of those living with chronic illness and disability

Chronically Capable – for job seekers with chronic illness and disabilities

Transitions of Care – Child Neurology (helping you transition from paediatric to adult care)

The Caregiver Series (videos, for adoptive parents)

Sing Me a Story (Stories and Songs for kids in need)

Watershed DNA (support and guidance to help those understand their DNA results)

Easterseals Disability Film Challenge (changing the way the world views and defines disability)

Familial Fitness: Disability, Adoption, and Family in Modern America

oktober 29, 2022november 7, 2022

One Adoptee’s Thoughts on the UN Joint Statement on Illegal Intercountry Adoptions

On 29 September 2022, the United Nations (UN) published a press release titled: Illegal intercountry adoptions must be prevented and eliminated: UN experts which provides a Joint Statement from the UN Committees. While the majority around the world could not have pre-empted this statement, it was not news to me because our coalition Voices Against Illegal Adoption (VAIA) had been talking with the UN to ensure our input was included. I know other experts in illegal intercountry adoption around the world gave input too.

The UN Joint Statement created for me a day of mixed feelings. For many of us, myself included, who are the victims of the past and current practices that constitute illegal and illicit practices in intercountry adoption, we have been speaking up, shouting from the rooftops, demanding attention, help, and support. But usually to no avail. Most Governments around the world have continued to turn a blind eye to the reality that some of our adoptions have been questionable and some, outright illegal with prosecutions of perpetrators. As one adoptive mother and fierce advocate, Desiree Smolin essentially said on her Facebook post, why has it taken the UN so long given the decades of trafficking and illicit practices? Why have so many families and adoptees been left to suffer the same impacts when it has been known to happen for so many decades?

So on 29 September, I felt our voices have been finally heard and validated – that someone in power was listening to us. Thank you to those at the UN who worked tirelessly to make this happen. It felt a little vindicating but at the same time, the reality of this world crushes hope because I know the statement from the UN is not going to put any true pressure on governments around the world to act in our best interest, let alone help us in any practical sense.

I felt personally so empowered by the UN Joint Statement that I wrote another letter to our leader here in Australia, the Prime Minister. In my letter, I ask the Australian government once again, to please do something to help those who are impacted instead of the deathly silence we’ve experienced in the 25 years I’ve spent advocating for our rights and needs.

Have a read of my lengthy letter which highlights the many times I’ve attempted to raise this issue to our Australian government, asking for supports for the victims. I’m as yet to have any response from the Australian Prime Minister. I imagine that the post-COVID economic recovery of the country, the current floods that have hit Australia all year long, and the other more higher priority issues like domestic family violence will receive his attention first compared to my long letter about a topic that impacts only some of the 20,000 of us intercountry adoptees. We just don’t rank up there in importance and unless it was their son or daughter being impacted, there’s just no reason why our Australian government would care enough to act.

I’ve been asked by a few about what I thought the impact would be of this UN Joint Statement. I truly think the best outcome might be that States (governments) will realise the risks they bear in continuing to conduct and facilitate intercountry adoption with all its pitfalls in safeguarding the human rights of intercountry adoptees. When we consider the legal cases being fought around the world by various intercountry adoptees and the revolution in awakening that we can fight for our rights, I would caution any government against participating in intercountry adoption. Legal pathways are slowly but surely being found by adoptees around the world. Governments must realise that if they continue on as they have in the past, there will be a time of reckoning where the abuses to our human rights will finally be recognised and the injustices need to be compensated.

In the Netherlands, the fight for adoptee rights is led by Brazilian adoptee Patrick Noordoven who won his right to compensation due to his illegal adoption to the Netherlands. Dilani Butink also won her court hearing for her case of an unlawful adoption from Sri Lanka. Bibi Hasenaar is also mentioned as having liability claims in this joint report. Sadly, both Noordoven and Butink’s cases are still being appealed by the Dutch State who have unlimited funds and time which highlights the power imbalance and ongoing victimisation that adoptees face. Sam van den Haak has also sent a letter to the Dutch State about her own and 20 other Sri Lankan adoptees whose adoption files have errors that caused emotional damage.

In Sweden, Carlos Andrés Queupán Huenchumil filed an appeal to change his name back to his original, having been illegally adopted from Chile. In France, a group of Malian adoptees are taking legal action against the adoption agency for its role in their illegal adoptions. In New Zealand, Maori adoptee Bev Reweti has mounted a class action against the State for being displaced and adopted out of their Maori whānau. In South Korea, Korean-Denmark intercountry adoptee and lawyer Peter Regal Möller and his organisation Danish Korean Rights Group have submitted just under 300 cases to the Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission seeking to know the truth about their identities that were falsified in order to be intercountry adopted. Peter openly talks about the legal cases against agencies Holt and KSS that are coming in the future. I also know of other intercountry adoptees who haven’t had published media articles yet but who are progressing in the early stages of their legal cases against States and agencies for their illegal adoptions.

The momentum is growing around the world as adoptees become more aware of the human rights abuses they’ve lived that have been facilitated via intercountry adoption.

It’s not just adoptees who are taking legal action. Some incredibly courageous parents are, and have, also taken action. Recently in France, adoptive parents Véronique and Jean-Noël Piaser who adopted a baby from Sri Lanka have filed a complaint in 2021 for the fraud that involved the stealing of their baby from her mother in Sri Lanka. In the USA, adoptive parents Adam and Jessica Davis have been successful in assisting the US government to press charges against the adoption agency European Adoption Consultants (EAC) for its role in fraud and corruption of theirs and many other adoptions.

In a landmark first, both adoptive parents and biological parents of Guatemalan-Belgium adoptee Mariela SR Coline Fanon are taking civil action in Belgium as victims of human trafficking. The case is currently under judicial investigation. This is not the first time biological parents fight for their rights in intercountry adoption. In 2020, biological father from Guatemala, Gustavo Tobar Farjardo won at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for his sons to be returned to him who had been adopted to separate families in America.

So ultimately, I believe the UN Joint Statement acts two-fold: firstly, it goes some way towards validating the traumas some live in our adoptions and encourages intercountry adoptees and families around the world to stand up and demand action and legal vindication of our truths; and secondly, it makes it clear to States the risks they undertake if they continue on in their current practices of intercountry adoption.

I would personally be glad and celebrate if adopting countries assess the risk of participating in intercountry adoption as too high to continue it into the future. We are long past the time of being blind to the colonial practices and harms of intercountry adoption. We must do more to help all countries become more aware of the responsibility they hold to their own born-to-children. Remember that some of our biggest sending countries in intercountry adoption are our richest – China, South Korea and the USA. It is time we moved past the easy solution intercountry adoption provides to countries who don’t wish to take care of their own and challenge countries to understand there is an inherent cost if they ignore their children by casting them aside, when it suits. Intercountry adoptees do grow up, we become well educated, we are empowered by Western mentality to demand our rights be respected and injustices no longer be ignored.

The UN Statement is long overdue given the decades of generations of us who are impacted by illegal and illicit adoptions. I celebrate that we have been heard at the highest level internationally, but I’m fairly certain that States will not step up to deal with this issue in any practical way. I know they will remain silent for as long as possible, hoping it blows over and meanwhile, as in the Netherlands, they will continue on in their trade of children but in a slightly different way, despite conducting a full investigation; because that’s what countries do. I’m a pragmatist and I will continue to raise awareness and push for much needed change, because I know despite the UN Joint Statement, we are still at the beginning. It will take a huge en-masse movement from impacted people to get governments to act in support of us because for too long, they’ve been able to get away with doing little to nothing. At some point, the cost for governments and participating entities of doing little, will outweigh the cost to stopping the practice.

I believe in its current form and as practiced under the 1993 Hague Convention, governments are unable to prevent and stop the illegal and illicit practices aka trafficking that include human rights abuses in intercountry adoption. Therefore it needs to be stopped. The UN Joint Statement is simply a reflection of where we are at today. Victims no longer need to plead to be heard, we HAVE been heard at the highest level internationally. What we are waiting on now, is for appropriate responses from governments and facilitating organisations — which might be a long time coming.