#FlipTheScript

I’ve almost let National Adoption Month go by without comment.

But I can’t.

When we were waiting to adopt our first oldest, a lot of the other people we met who were also waiting were reading adoptive mommy blogs. Think mommy blogs with a pretty saccharine adoption narrative. Those didn’t feel real to me, so instead I read adoptee blogs. The adoptive parent blogs usually referred to these as “angry adoptees.”

Their perspectives felt better grounded in reality.

It was one of the best ways I could have prepared for being an adoptive parent.

Maybe they are angry. But only in the best way, of being angry at the injustices of the current system and speaking out about it.

Looking around to gather links for this post, I have realized that I don’t listen to these voices as much as I would like to. (I think part of it is that now I primarily listen haphazardly on Twitter.)

I have also realized that a lot of voices that were important in my journey on this have now gone silent. I wish them well and hope that they are leading beautiful lives.

Anyway, here are some adoptee voices that have been personally influential. They’re not all always talking about adoption, but most do sometimes. (Since I’m mainly listening to these voices on Twitter lately, I’ve decided to list Twitter accounts, where available, not blogs.)

  • Amanda is a social worker, consultant, and therapist. She also founded Lost Daughters, listed below.
  • Angela has a YouTube channel and a documentary on Netflix about adoption, The Adopted Life.
  • Angela Barra has recently crossed my path, and I’m looking forward to following her blog, Adoptee Reflections.
  • Jessenia Arias created and hosts I am Adopted.
  • Nicole Chung might be best known right now for co-foundering and editing the still-awesome The Toast. She used the platform she had there to also raise issues of adoption, transracial adoption, and racial justice.
  • Dan is executive producer at the fun and entertaining ISAtv, a YouTube channel about Asian Pacific American culture.
  • Land of Gazillion Adoptees is an ezine by and for adult adoptees.
  • Lost Daughters is a group blog that provides a platform for adult women who were adopted as children.
  • Kimberly McKee is a researcher in Adoption Studies.
  • Mother Made blogs and tweets about being a transracial adoptee and is especially eloquent about the tensions inherit in her complex identity.
  • Michelle uses social media to talk about both adoption and faith.
  • Mila blogs at Lost Daughters. My family had the opportunity of hearing Mila in person a couple of times, and she’s just as powerful of a voice in real life.
  • Karen Pickell is a writer, editor, and advocate. She founded Adoptee Reading.
  • John W. Raible comes at this experience from all sides. He is an adoptive parent, and he researches adoption-related issues. He has been a active and tireless voice for adoptee rights, for the issues raised by transracial adoptees, and for other causes.

These people all have amazing voices. Go listen to them.

I’ve certainly left out lots of people here. These are just some (not all!) that have been personally significant to me. If you know of someone I should be listening to, please let me know.


History

  • Originally published 30 November 2016.
  • Updated 18 January 2017.