For National Adoption Awareness Month By Dr. Abby Hasberry, LMFT, LCMFT, BCC Every November, stories about adoption flood the internet. They arrive on our screens with a familiar arc, softened by the gratitude season, and wrapped in the language of the happily-ever-after. For most of my life…
by Laura Engel I lied and wore a false veneer for fifty years. Disenfranchised grief and shame colored my life and you never would have known it. In 1966, I was a senior in high…
By Karleigh N’diaye “But you got a good family, so why does it matter?” “I mean… at least somebody wanted you.” I’ve heard some version of these words more times than I can count. And…
by Brad Ewell Adoption reunions, even at their very best, can be horribly complicated. This is what I tell adoptees, first parents, and adoptive parents when the topic of reunion comes up. My goal isn’t…
By Shannon QuistWhen I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Or possibly work in a zoo (I’m still holding onto the zoo dream for retirement purposes). I love animals. As a kid,…
by April Dinwoodie Eleven years ago, I sat down around the Fourth of July to write about what freedom and independence meant to me as a transracially adopted person. Looking back at that 2015 piece,…
by Jean Widner My adopted dad was Yoda. All of 5’6”, he was round, mostly bald, and never terribly physical. He had large-ish ears that stuck out broadly on the sides of his head. He…
by Laura L. Engel When I was a teenager in the 1960s, I would bluntly announce to anyone who would listen that I wasn’t going to have children. I was going to move to New…
by Joanne Bagshaw, PhD, LCPC The last time I spoke with my adoptive mother was on my birthday five years ago. Surprised to see her number on my phone, I cautiously yet hopefully answered. After…
by Aimee Sones For quite some time I’ve had this idea to make a neon sign that spells relinquish(ed), where the (ed) blinks on and off. As a hypervigilant adoptee, for much of my life,…