Adoptee Soul Dread

By: Becca Dragon **That feeling when you are sitting in your third grade class, and you overhear a group of kids talking about someone’s birthday party, knowing you didn’t get an invitation: wondering what is so wrong with you that you don’t seem to be as accepted as the more socially fluent around you…. **That …

I Finally Know Who I Am

by: Bree aka NoRang You STOLE me from my motherland. You never asked if I was okay with leaving my place of birth, my home. Kidnapping me away from everyone that looked like me, my culture. I was placed into your family. A family who knew nothing about my my Korean culture or heritage. Hell …

Pick A Mom

by: Alana Hart For the first time in my life, I have the opportunity to have both my first and adoptive mothers around my table for Thanksgiving. “Great!” you are probably thinking to yourself. What an opportunity to unite and feel thankful! However, as an adoptee nothing is straight forward or easy. Instead, the guilt …

How Will You Change Your Mind About Adoption

by: Liz DeBetta I teach writing at a university in Utah, which is a very white, conservative, pro-adoption state. Just this week my students gave presentations in class called “Book Talks” based on a memoir/non-fiction book of their choice. I had given them a list of options at the beginning of the semester and each …

Our Lives Are Not Your Entertainment

by: Cherish Asha Bolton Popular TV show This Is Us wowed audiences again with its coverage of transracial adoption. I don't watch the show, and a lot of adoptees can't bring themselves to watch it either. And yet it's immensely popular with adoptive parents. The supposedly "mic drop" scene is as follows: Jack: When I …

The BITE Model, Part Two: Information Control

In part one (read part one first), we examined the “B” of the BITE model: Behavior Control.  In this second part we move on to the I: Information Control.  As a refresher, let’s establish what the BITE Model is, and also present our caveats. The BITE Model was developed by Steven Hassan of the Freedom …

The BITE Model Applied to the Adoption Industry and Mainstream Adoption Narrative

Part One: Introduction and Behavior Control By: Becca Dragon This is going to be a four part series, examining the BITE model by Steven Hassan as it relates to our mainstream adoption narrative and industry in the United States.  What is the BITE model?  According to the Freedom of Mind Resource Center, “Many people think …

NOT ALL

by: Dione I rarely speak up in response to people dismissing adoptee voices. I can’t stand the condescending comments use in a effort to silence me and keep the needed changes to take place. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately though. This is what I’ve thought. ***“Not all” children grow up to be …

Adoptee Imaginings

by: Becca Dragon Let's be clear, we are talking about THIS adoptee, lest you feel that urge to remind me I don't speak for ALL adoptees. Yes, got it. But, upon talking to my dear adoptee friend, Cherish, we thought this might spark interesting conversation to see if we have more commonalities among other adopted …

I Am Not “Supposed” to Be Here

Even with some personal spiritual/religious beliefs, I feel fairly certain that I am not supposed to be here. The Creation of Me was a moral failing according most religious and societal tenets. Born to teenaged parents (married, but teens nonetheless), I was a mistake that needed a more "stable" older couple to redeem. One man's …