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…
When “No Names” Isn’t Enough
By Dr. Adam AnthonyAuthor’s Note: I wrote this piece from a place of healing and purpose — to honor the complexity of adoption, faith, and storytelling. Every adoptee’s story is sacred. Every family’s story is…
The Ghosts That Heal and Haunt Us
By Taya ReedWhen Cher sings, “If I Could Turn Back Time,” the lyrics stir something deep in me. As an adoptee, those words often carry layers of longing, grief, and regret. I’ve felt this in…
From Fragmentation to Awakening: Nurturing Wholeness and Connection
By Cindy ShultzIn my mid-twenties, I was raising two children by myself while caring for my mother, whose ever-changing mental health needs kept me on notice. I began seeing someone twelve years older than me.…
Filling the Void: Helpful and Harmful Coping Mechanisms
By Dr. Liz DeBetta As adoptees, many of us live with a kind of void that is hard to describe. It’s the space where answers should be but aren’t, where family history should connect but doesn’t,…
Twenty Years
by Kathleen Shea KirsteinIt’s a warm summer day in August. I’m sitting on my deck, my morning coffee in hand. I am hoping the deer come to visit. It will be a nice distraction from…
Letter from the Outside Daughter
By K E Garland To my birth father’s family, I know I don’t belong. You don’t have to go out of your way to position me as an outsider. I’ve lived on the edges of society’s…
Finding Mother
By Sherrill Elizondo I see myself as a young child, as though I’m viewing a scene in a movie about someone else. I walk into our living room and see a woman in a 1950s…
Deconstructing Adoption: One Mother’s Road
by Dani Joy I didn’t go looking for the truth about adoption.I wasn’t bitter, angry or regretful. I had spent the last decade clinging determinedly to the belief that it was ‘God’s will’ that my son…