Sociologist Gretchen Sisson discusses her new book Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, and her ten years of research on adoption in the United States. How do relinquishing mothers feel about the support and counseling they received (or didn't) during t...

Hope O. Helder, birthmother and author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Finding Hope: A Birthmother's Journey into the Light and Nam Holtz, LMSW, a therapist, transracially adopted person born in Korea, and award-winning documentary filmmaker of Found in Korea, discuss how we can improve outco...

While reflecting on her theater piece, Placing Home, which centers birthmother stories, adoptive mother Katy Finn unpacks the powerful role adoptive mothers can play in shifting the pervasive adoption narrative. Katy’s talk centers around three questions: What role does the adoptive mother play i...

Kirsta Bowman, an adopted person well-known on social media for her thoughtful and nuanced videos discussing the adoption landscape, joins us to discuss her research into unethical rehoming practices on social media. Unregulated custody transfer, often referred to as “rehoming,” is the practice o...

Marcella Moslow, LCSW, RPT, is a trauma therapist and a transracially adopted person born in Columbia. Adoptee activism doesn’t always have to be through large scale practices or platforms, it can take the form of becoming educated and advocating for adoptees who face disparities when it comes t...

Bethany Fraser is a transacially adopted person and host of the podcast, The Adoptee Diaries: Truth, Trust, and Transparency. Bethany always knew she was adopted, but it wasn’t until she did a home DNA kit that she learned some stunning secrets about her origins, including the discovery that she ...

Rachel Boyer, MSW, LMSW, a social worker and transracially adopted person, provides her expertise and insight about trauma-informed and adoption-competent social work practice. She discusses how our society views adoption, identifies the gaps in adoption storytelling, discusses why those gaps hav...

Dr. Cawayu reflects on his adoption journey and how it led him from adoptee activism and professional work within the system to researching it academically. Drawing on his PhD research with families of origin in Bolivia, this session engages with broader debates on understanding the current issue...

Join us for a conversation that's never been had before in adoption spaces, as Anna Linde, MSc, a transracial adopted person, sexologist, and sexual health specialist, brings a completely new perspective to Activism in Adoption, one that will challenge everything you think you know about adoption...