Dr. Atamhi Cawayu was born in Bolivia and adopted to Belgium. In 2023, he earned his PhD in Gender and Diversity Studies from Ghent University. Dr. Cawayu’s academic work centers on childhood and child protection, with specific interests in transnational adoption and the right to live in a family. Drawing on his lived experience as an adoptee, alongside his work as a scholar and activist, Dr. Cawayu strategically uses academic spaces to challenge dominant adoption narratives and influence public debate. For birth parents, his research validates experiences that are too often minimized or dismissed. For adopted people navigating reunion, his work offers critical insight into what families of origin may have endured. And for mental health professionals and social workers, Dr. Cawayu’s work demonstrates why centering the voices of adoptees and birth families—rather than agencies or adoptive parents—leads to more honest and ethical conversations about what adoption really is.