Adoption
DNA Detectives and the End of Family Secrets “Adoptees and donor-conceived people can now make shock genetics discoveries with a simple saliva swab and they’re doing it in droves.”
A Korean Adoptee Starts the Search for Her Birth Family Heather Schultz tells the story of her search for her birth family in South Korea.
Reconciling Asian-American Identity within Transracial Adoptions “Mengwen Cao photographed and interviewed New Yorkers who were adopted from Asia and grew up in white families.”
Transracial Adoption: Conversations About the Adoptee Experience New Hampshire Public Radio discusses the adoption experience with adoptees and a social worker.The Adopted Life
Adoption Detective: Memoir of an Adopted Child
Between: A View from the Space that Separates
Diary of a Not So Angry Asian Adoptee
Elle Cuardaigh: Following a Tangled Thread
How Does It Feel to Be Adopted?
Marylee’s Dream – An Adopted American Adult Tells All
A Memoir of Adoption and Identity
What Happens After ReunionAdoption, Identity, and Kinship: The Debate Over Sealed Birth Records, by Katarina Wegar The author “offers a new perspective on adoption and the search debate, placing them within a social context. She argues that Americans who are embroiled in adoption controversies have failed to understand how much the debate, adoption research, and the experience of adoption itself are affected by persistent social beliefs that adopted children are different from and somehow inferior to children reared by their biological families.”
Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists, edited by Janine Myung Ja, Michael Allen Potter, and Allen L. Vance Adoptee rights activists share their stories in this anthology spanning domestic, inter country, and transracial adoption.
The Bastard Chronicles: An Anthology: 20 Years of Adoptee Activism in the US and the Birth of Bastard Nation An examination of two decades of adoptee advocacy and rights legislation in the United States.
The Declassified Adoptee: Essays of an Adoption Activist, by Amanda H.L. Transue-Woolston The journey from adoptee to adoptees’ rights advocateNo Names to be Given, Julia Brewer Daily When three young unwed women meet at a maternity home hospital in New Orleans in 1966, they are expected to relinquish their babies and return home as if nothing transpired. Twenty-five years later, they are brought back together by blackmail and their secrets threatened with exposure — all the way to the White House. Although this novel is a fictional account, it mirrors many of the adoption stories of its era. An Adoptee Lexicon, by Karen Pickell A collection of micro-essays about a broad range of adoption topics organized as a glossary of frequently used terms associated with adoption
The Adoptee Survival Guide: Adoptees Share Their Wisdom and Tools, Edited by Lynn Grubb The adoptee experience described by 30 authors, touching on everything from family relationships to advocacy
Adoption Nation: How the Adoption Revolution is Transforming Our Families — and America, by Adam Pertman An award-winning book about the history and consequences of adoption
Flip the Script: Adult Adoptee Anthology, edited by Rosita Gonzalez, Amanda Transue-Woolston, LSW, Diane Rene Christian An anthology of writings about the adoptee experience from a global community of adoptees
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler The story of the million and a half women who placed children for adoption as a result of family and social pressure, written by an adoptee surrendered during those years
Imprint of Another Life: Adoption Narratives and Human Possibility, by Margaret Homans. The author “uses readings of literature, documentary films, advice manuals, social science writing, and informal writings by and published interviews with adoptees, parents, to address a series of questions about common beliefs about adoption.”
Kinship by Design: A History of Adoption in the Modern United States, by Ellen Herman Traces the history of modern adoption from the early 1900s, exploring legal, social, and psychological issues
Lost Daughters: Writing Adoption From a Place of Empowerment and Peace, by Amanda H.L. Transue-Woolston, Julie Stromberg, and Jennifer Anastasi Writers of the Lost Daughters blog, a collaborative writing project, contribute to an anthology of narratives about being adopted.
Who Even Am I Anymore: A Process Journal for the Adoptee, Late Discovery Adoptee, Donor Conceived, NPE, and MPE Community, by Eve Sturges, MA, LMFT An indispensable resource for people who’ve had shocking family discoveries.After the Truth, by Paige Adams Strickland
Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity, by Paige Adams Strickland
All You Can Ever Know, by Nicole Chung
Almost Home: A Memoir, by Hilary Harper
An Affair with My Mother: A Story of Adoption, Secrecy and Love, by Caitríona Palmer
Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe, by Lori Jakiela
Beneath a Tall Tree, by Jean A. S. Strauss
Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption, by Susan Devan Harness
Blackbird: A Childhood Lost and Found, by Jennifer Lauck
The Book of Sarahs: A Family in Parts, by Catherine E. McKinley
Finding Fish: A Memoir, by Antwone Q. Fisher
Found: A Memoir, by Jennifer Lauck
Ghost of Sangju: A Memoir of Reconciliation, by Soojung Jo
The Goodbye Baby: A Diary About Adoption, by Elaine Pinkerton
Hole in My Heart, by Lorraine Dusky
Identical Strangers, by Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein
I Knew You By Name: The Search for My Lost Mother, by Peggy Barnes
In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Own Stories, by Rita Simon and Rhonda Roorda
Ithaka: A Daughter’s Memoir of Being Found, by Sarah Saffian
The Last Invisible Continent: Essays on Adoption and Identity, by Michael Allen Potter
Litany for the Long Moment, by Mary-Kim Arnold
The Lonely Child: The Journey of Search to Find My Biological Family, by Susan Moyer
Lucky Girl, by Mei-Ling Hopgood
A Man and His Mother: An Adopted Son’s Search, by Tim Green
The Mistress’s Daughter, by A.M. Holmes
Moon Over Mountains: The Search for Mom, by Diamond Mike Watson
Parallel Universes: The Story of Rebirth, a Memoir, by David B. Bohl
Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search, by Martin Sixsmith
The Search for Mother Missing: A Peek Inside International Adoption, by Janine Vance
Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away, by June Cross
Shadow Train: A Journey Between Relinquishment and Reunion, by Patricia E. Taylor
Somebody’s Daughter, by Zara H. Phillips
The Sound of Hope: A True Story of an Adoptee’s Quest for Her Origins, by Anne Bauer
Still Waters, by Jennifer Lauck
Swabbed and Found: An Adopted Man’s DNA Journey to Discover His Family Tree, by Frank Billingsley
Swimming Up the Sun: A Memoir of Adoption, by Nicole J. Burton
Through Adopted Eyes: A Collection of Memoirs from Adoptees, Elena S. Hall
Too Much Soul: The Journey of an Asian Southern Belle, by Cindy Wilson
Twins Found in a Box: Adapting to Adoption, by Janine Vance
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal, by Jeanette Winterson
You Don’t Look Adopted, by Anne HeffronAdoption Therapy: Perspectives from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues, by Laura Dennis An anthology of essays by adoptees, adoptive parents, and clinicians
Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self, by David Brodzinsky, Marshall D. Schecter, and Robin Marantz Henig This book “uses the poignant, powerful voices of adoptees and adoptive parents to explore the experience of adoption and its lifelong effects.”
Coming Home to Self: The Adopted Child Grows Up, by Nancy Newton Verrier By the author of “The Primal Wound,” a book about healing from early childhood trauma
The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child, by Nancy Newton Verrier An exploration of the effects adoptees experience after being separated from their birth mothers and a primer on loss, bonding, and attachment
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew, by Sherrie Eldridge The author, an adoptee herself, shares the emotional experience of adoption “and shows adoptive parents how to free their kids from feelings of fear, abandonment, and shame.”Adoption Reunion: Ecstasy or Agony?, by Evelyn Robinson The author explores the complexity of the reunion experience and the range of feelings that may arise.
Adoption Reunion in the Social Media Age, An Anthology, edited by Laura Dennis Stories about adoption reunion experiences, largely from adult adoptees but also from adoptive parents, first mothers, and mental health professionals
The Adoption Reunion Handbook, by Elizabeth Trinder, Julia Feast, and David Howe A 2005 book with practical advice about search techniques and discussion of the various experiences of reunion
The Adoption Reunion Survival Guide: Preparing Yourself for the Search, Reunion, and Beyond, by Julie Jarrell Bailey and Lynn N. Giddens, MA Although its search technique may be a bit dated, the guide offers perspective on the reunion experience along with resources.
Adoption Therapy: Perspective from Clients and Clinicians on Processing and Healing Post-Adoption Issues, by Laura Dennis An anthology of writings by adoptees, clinicians, and adoptive parents about the full range of potential psychological effects of adoption
The Adoption Triangle, by Arthur D. Sorosky, MD, Anette Baran, MSW, and Reuben Pannor, MSW A groundbreaking book about the effect of adoption on adoptees and birthparents
BirthRight: The Guide to Search and Reunion for Adoptees, Birth Parents, and Adoptive Parents, by Jean A.S. Strauss Although the mechanics of searching has changed greatly in the roughly two and a half decades since the appearance of this classic, the discussion of the emotional issues and concerns related to search and reunion remain useful.
Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness, by Betty Jean Lifton Written in 1995, a classic exploration of the adoption experience.Alliance for the Study of Adoption and Culture
American Adoption Congress Conference
Korean Adoptee Adoptive Family (KAAN) ConferenceAdopted Filmmaker Barb Lee looks at the challenges of international adoption through the eyes of two families.
Adopted: For the Life of Me A film by Jean Strauss about the cost of family secrets and closed records
Adopted People Have Two Birth Certificates A TED talk by Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh about adoptees’ lack of access to their original birth certificates
An Adoptee Roared in Ohio: The Betsie Norris Story Jean A.S. Strauss traces the work of Ohio adoptee Betsie Norris, founder of Adoption Network Cleveland, to provide adoptees access to their birth records.
Calcutta is My Mother A full length documentary about Reshma McClintock’s journey back to Calcutta, where she was born and abandoned in 1980
Closure A documentary about a transracial adoptee’s search for the birth family that didn’t know she existed
Daughter from Danang A 2003 film about a seven-year-old girl sent to American from Vietnam as part of the evacuation program known as Operation Babylift
Father Unknown Accompanied by his son, a retired teacher travels to Switzerland to try to learn about his birthfather and ends up meeting a brother he didn’t know he had.
Flip the Script A video by Bryan Tucker about raising the voice of adoptees during National Adoption Month, a time during which the perspective of adoptive parents and professionals tends to drown out that of adoptees
Found in Korea A Korean adoptee travels back to Korea to look for her birth parents and her culture
A Girl Like Her Ann Fessler’s film examines the history of the million women who became pregnant in the 1950s and 1960s, were sent to maternity homes, and were told to forget the children they surrendered.
Lion A biographical drama based on the book “A Long Way Home,” a memoir of Saroo Brierley, who searches for the family from whom he was separated
Little White Lie “A personal documentary about the legacy of family secrets, denial, and the power of telling the truth”
Long Lost Family Two adoptees aim to help others find their birth families in this series from the Learning Channel.
Lucky Bastard A documentary following Elijah Thomas’ search for and ultimate confrontation with his biological father
Not Your Orphan A YouTube channel that takes an incisive, critical look at adoption and aims to explore social values, human rights violations, historic malevolence, and intersectional issues
Open Secret A film by Steve Lickteig that asks the question, “What if everything you knew about yourself was a life? And everyone knew the truth except you?
Philomena A dramatization of the book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee,” about a woman’s search for the child she was forced to give up 50 years ago in Ireland
The Secret Identity of an Adopted Child A TEDx Talk by Catharine Robertson who, after 25 years of searching, found her birth family
Side by Side Project A video installation with more than 100 stories of infants and children separated from their South Korean families of origin during the past 60 years
A Simple Piece of Paper Filmmaker Jean Strauss looks at the experience of 16 adoptees as they open their birth records after Illinois became the largest state to reverse sealed record laws.
Somewhere Between An award-winning film directed by the adoptive mother of a daughter from China. Through the coming of age stories of four girls, she explores the themes of race, family, adoption, and identity formation.
Twinsters The improbable but true story of a French fashion student who notices her extraordinary resemblance to an actress in a YouTube video. She learns that they had been born on the same day in the same town in Korea and were placed for adoption. A Facebook friend request leads to a remarkable reunion.
Three Identical Strangers A heartbreaking documentary about three brothers separated at birth who discover each other by chance and learn that they’d been part of a cruel and callous experiment
We’re Not Blood In his feature-length nonfiction film, Jeff Togman traces his struggles to find his birth family in a culture that doesn’t respect his fundamental right to learn where he comes from.
Who Are You? Elita Gendler delivers a TEDx Youth Talk about being an adoptee from Cambodia and the experience of being an outsider in a variety of cultures.
You Follow: A Search for One’s Past An adoptee leaves Sacramento, California with four friends in search of her birthmother in Goa India.
You Have His Eyes A widely praised, award-winning documentary film about a man adopted at birth who at age 25 discovers his birth mother and then begins a search for his father.Adopted, Chosen, Loved A mentorship program for Chinese adoptees that pairs older adoptees with a younger adoptees
Adoptee Rights Campaign “A diverse group of intercountry adoptees and allies striving to educate, organize and advocate for adoptee rights”
Adoptee Rights Coalition “An adoptee-led organization of adult adoptees, original families, and adoptive families that supports legislation that will give all adopted adults unconditional restored access to their own original birth certificates”
Alliance for the Study of Adoption & Culture “Promotes understanding of the experience, institution, and cultural representation of domestic and transnational adoption and related practices such as fostering, assisted reproduction LGBTQ+ families, and innovative kinship formations
Also-Known-As “The mission of Also-Known-As is to empower the voice of adult international adoptees, build cultural bridges, transform perceptions of race, and acknowledge the loss of the birth country, culture, language and biological family experienced by international adoptees
American Adoption Congress Provides education and resources about adoption and hosts an Annual International Conference
Bastard Nation “Dedicated to the recognition of the full human and civil rights of adult adoptees”
Coalition for Genetic Truth (CGT) An organization that aims to educate and advocate for adoptees, NPEs, donor conceived people and others fighting for their genetic truth
Donaldson Adoption Institute The institute’s “mission is to provide adoption leadership that improves laws and policies through research, education, advocacy.”
I AM Adoptee IAMAdoptee aims to give a platform to international adoptees and provide resources for individuals at all stages of their international adoption identity.
The Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network An all-volunteer organization that aims to “improve the lives of Korean-born adoptees by connecting the community and providing opportunities for dialogue, education, and support”
Origins Canada Provides support, education, search assistance to individuals separated from their families by adoption; performs education; and encourages reform
The Rudd Adoption Research Program A program of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and affiliated with the Interdisciplinary Center for Research for Families, it promotes knowledge about the psychology of adoption and provides evidence-based knowledge to informal adoption policy and practice.Adapted A podcast by Kaomi Goetz explores the experiences of Korean adoptees from post-reunion stories to living in Korea as adults.”
Adoptees On: The Podcast Where Adoptees Discuss the Adoption Experience Hosted by Haley Radke, Adoptees On is “the podcast where adoptees discuss the adoption experience.”
Adoption Advocacy Podcast Created and hosted by Francie Ryan Frisbie, Adoption Advocacy Podcast aims to “provide a forum for dialogue, support, connection, and education.”
Adoption: The Making of Me Two adult adoptees, Louise Browne and Sarah Reinhardt, discuss all things adoption.
Born in June Raised in April April Dinwoodie’s podcast offers personal stories of adoption and identity.
Indiana Adoptee Network News: Adoptees Unplugged Host Pam Kroskie talks with adoptees, adoptee researchers, and clinicians.
Out of the Fog Co-hosts Kassaye MacDonald and Pascal Huynh have wide-ranging discussions on social and political issues related to adoption. It’s no longer in production, but past podcasts are archived.
The Rambler Mike McDonald hosts a “one-on-one interview podcast centered around international and transracial adoption.”
Who Am I Really? Damon L. Davis hosts this podcast about adoptees’ search and reunion experiences. Adopted.com
Florida Adoption Reunion Registry
Search AngelsAdopted Adults Support Group
Adoptees Connect: An Adoptee Centric Connect Group
Adoptees in Search of Their Birth Family
Adoptees, NPEs, Donor Conceived & Other Genetic Identity Seekers
Adoptees Only: Found/Reunion The Next Chapter
Adoption Reunion Search and Support Group
Adoption Search & Support by DNAngels — Adoptee/LDA
Birth Parents Only: Our Journey to Heal
Changing the Adoption Narrative
DNA Adoptee Research & Reunion
DNAngels Search & Support – NPE/DC
Find Birth Parents, Siblings, Adoptees and Family
MPE Cross Cultural Connections
You Know You’re An Adoptee When….Adoptee.org A site that answers questions “regarding adoptee trauma, DNA testing, how to communicate with birth parents, how to find your birthparents, and anything else related to adoptees”
Adoptee Rights Law “An adoptee-focused legal practice bounded by Gregory Luce, a Minnesota lawyer and D.C.-born adoptee.”
Dear Adoption A platform to share the experiences of adoptees “and shift the narrative surrounding adoption to better educate society.”
Udaan—Uniting Adoption A platform for the adoption circle. It’s created a network of therapists and an online tool, a chatbox, to help educate about adoption.