Mother Love
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…
Mothering Ourselves
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…
Relinquish(ed)
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,…
Letting Go and Moving Forward
by Kathleen Kirstein I describe being a late-discovery adoptee as having lived my life in the grooves of a vinyl record. My hand guides the needle onto the record as it plays pitch-perfect music. Winning…
The Stories That Were Never Told: Ancestry, Silence, and the Weight Women Carried
by Dr. Adam Anthony (he/him) There is a common story people tell about adoption.And then there is the story that never gets told or perhaps is less heard of.The version that is more nuanced, complex, and messy.…
Herstories, Histories, and Hidden Stories
by Taya Reed There are stories written in ink.And there are stories written in the body.I came with paperwork.A decree.A new birth certificate.A file sealed and placed somewhere official.On paper, my story looks…
Languages of Love & Loss: What’s Written in My Bones
By Dr. Liz DeBettaFebruary is my birth month. It’s also the month when Valentine’s Day is celebrated, which also happens to be the birthday of my oldest niece. It is a month dedicated to the…
New Year’s Intentions and Integration
by Jessica BostonEach year, I experience the holidays as a season of buzzing excitement, Hollywood-like nostalgia, and a bit of chaos thrown in for good measure. I navigate big feelings, endless plans, and at the…
Reflections and Revelations
By Kathleen Shea KirsteinThe telephone cord is so short that I feel trapped in a 3-foot space. I can’t pace, which is what I want to be doing—anything to dispel this adrenaline circulating through my…
From One Adoptee to Another: Let’s Develop Self-Awareness, Identity, and Empathy
By K E GarlandInitial immersion into the adoptee community felt like a warm hug and a return to a home I didn’t know existed. Though I was a stranger among strangers, I was welcomed with…