Lecture on Adoption by Paul Sunderland
An introduction to the inherent trauma in being relinquished (watch the youtube video)

Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency
Article on the impact of adoption on adoptees (read the article)

Relinquishment Trauma: The Forgotten Trauma
Information on relinquishment trauma (aka adoption trauma, adoptee birth trauma, adoption separation trauma, primal wound) and how it impacts the way an adoptee views and interacts with their world. (read the article)

Texas Adoptees Loose Access to their Original Birth Certificates
A look at Texas legislation regarding access to original birth certificates. In-Depth Texas (read the article)

JDSupra – Adoption
News and Analysis regarding adoption laws

    • Adoption Knowledge Affiliates @adoptionknowledgeafficiates
      Austin-based organization which provides support to all those in the adoption constellation and a yearly conference on adoption.

    • Adoptees Unite
      @Adoptees.unite

    • Navigating Adoption
      @navigating_adoption

    • I Am Adoptee
      @iamadoptee

    • Adoptee Bridge
      @adopteebridge

    • Adoption Mosaic
      @adoptionmosaic

    • Also Known As
      @also.know.asinc

    • China’s Children International
      @cci_adoptees

    • Dear Adoption
      www.dearadoption.com

    • Adoptees On (podcast)
      www.adopteeson.com

    • Liz Latty
      www.liz-latty.com

    • The Lost Daughters:
      www.thelostdaughters.com

    • Only Black Girl
      www.onlyblackgirl.com

    • Harlow’s Monkey
      www.harlows-monkey.com

    • The Declassified Adoptee
      www.declassifiedadoptee.com

    • Diary of a Not-So-Angry Asian Adoptee
      www.diaryofanotsoangryasianadoptee.com

    • The Janchi Show
      @jachishow

    • Adoptees Born in China
      @adopteesborninchinapodcast

    • Somewhere Between
      @somewherebetween.fam

    • Thriving Adoptees (podcast)
      www.thrivingadoptees.com

    • The Adoptee Next Door (podcast)
      www.angelatucker.com

    • Adoptees Dish (podcast)
      adopteesdishpodcast

    • Anne Heffron
      www.anneheffron.com

    • Beyond Words Psychological Services
      www.growbeyondwords.com/Blog

    • Born in June Raised in April
      www.juneinapril.libsyn.com

    • Adapted (podcast)
      @adapted_podcast

  • Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness
    Betty Jean Lifton (1995)

    Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self
    David Brodzinski (1993)

    The Primal Wound
    Nancy Newton Verrier (2003)

    Coming Home to Self
    Nancy Newton Verrier (2003)

    Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency
    Sharon Roszia and Allison Davis Maxon (2019)

    Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents & Allies 
    Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard & Lori Holden

    The Adoptee Survival Guide: Adoptees Share Their Wisdom and Tools
    Lynn Grubb (2015)

    The Adoptee Self-Reflection Journal
    Chaitra Wirta-Leiker (2015)

    4 Books by Dave Pelzer:
    A Child Called “It“
    The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family
    The Privilege of Youth
    A Man Named Dave: A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness

    Recycled: A Reluctant Search for True Self Through Nurture, Nature, and Free Will https://a.co/d/eNBisR9

    Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies
    Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Lori Holden (2023)

    Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
    Sherrie Eldridge (1999)Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption
    Jane Jeong Trenka & Julie Chinyere Oparah (2021)

    Journey of the Adopted Self: A Quest for Wholeness Betty Jean Lifton (1995)

    Being Adopted: The Lifelong Search for Self David Brodzinski (1993)

    The Primal WoundNancy Newton Verrier (2003)

    Coming Home to SelfNancy Newton Verrier (2003)

    Seven Core Issues in Adoption and PermanencySharon Roszia and Allison Davis Maxon (2019)

    Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents & Allies Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard & Lori Holden

    The Adoptee Survival Guide: Adoptees Share Their Wisdom and Tools Lynn Grubb (2015)

    The Adoptee Self-Reflection Journal Chaitra Wirta-Leiker (2015)

    4 Books by Dave Pelzer:
    A Child Called “It“
    The Lost Boy: A Foster Child’s Search for the Love of a Family
    The Privilege of Youth
    A Man Named Dave: A Story of Triumph and Forgiveness

    Recycled: A Reluctant Search for True Self Through Nurture, Nature, and Free Will https://a.co/d/eNBisR9

    Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies Sara Easterly, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Lori Holden (2023)

    Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents KnewSherrie Eldridge (1999)Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption Jane Jeong Trenka & Julie Chinyere Oparah (2021)

  • #adopteevoices

    #adoptiontraumaand

“What does it mean to have some deep knowledge of who you are, some early memories, conscious or more embodied, that no one can confirm or explain to you?”

    • An Affair with My Mother: A Story of Adoption, Secrecy & Love
      Caitriona Palmer (2016)

    • All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir
      Nicole Chung (2018)

    • Austerlitz
      W.G. Sebald

    • Before We Were Yours 
      Lisa Wingate

    • Belief Is Its Own Kind of Truth, Maybe
      Lon Jakiela (2015)

    • Black Anthology: Adult Adoptees Claim Their Space
      Diane Rene Christian

    • Dear Wonderful You, Letters to Adopted & Foster Youth
      Diane Rene Christian & Mei-Mei Akwai Ellerman

    • Flip the Script: Adult Adoptee Anthology
      Diane René Christian, Amanda Transue-Woolston & Rosita González

    • Forbidden Roots: A Memoir of Late-Discovery Adoption

    • Inconvenient Daughter
      Lauren J. Sharkey

    • The Language of Blood, (2003)

    • A Long Way Home: A Boy's Incredible Journey from India to Australia & Back Again
      Saroo Brierly

    • Three Little Words: A Memoir
      Ashley Rhodes-Courter

    • Through Adopted Eyes: A Collection of Memoirs from Adoptees
      Elena S. Hall (2018)

    • Twice A Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
      Julie Ryan McGue (2021)

    • Two Hearts: An Adoptee's Journey Through Grief To Gratitude
      Linda Hoye (2012)

    • You Don't Look Adopted
      Anne Heffron (2016)

    • You Don't Know How Lucky You Are: An Adoptee's Journey Through The American Adoption Experience
      Rudy Owens (2018)

    • When We Become Ours: A YA Adoptee Anthology 
      Shannon Gibney & Nicole Chung

    • Memoirs of an Adoptee: One Person's DNA Discoveries, Reflections and Insights
      Craig Harris (2021)

    • Not Exactly as Planned

    • Not My White Savior: A Memoir in Poems
      Julayne Lee

    • Other Words for Grief
      Lisa Marie Rollins

    • Red Dust Road
      Jackie Kay (2019)

    • Parallel Universes: The Story of Rebirth
      David Bohl

    • Rooted: Memoirs of an Adoptee
      Lori Williams (2022)

    • Somebodies Daughter: A Memoir

    • Spilled Milk 
      K.L. Randis

    • Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love & Lost Identity
      Catana Tully

    • To Be Real
      Anne Heffron (2022)

    • Born Without a Race: The Struggles and Confusion of a Racially Ambiguous Adoptee, and How He Discovered His True Identity
      Michael Bauer (2023)

    • Luck Times Two; An Adoption Memoir Lucky Girl
      Mei-Ling Hopgood (2009)

    • Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption
      Susan Devan Harness (2019)

    • Decoding Our Origins: The Lived Experiences of Colombian Adoptees
      Abby Forero-Hilty

    • You Should be Grateful: Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption
      Angela Tucker

    • Fugitive Visions: An Adoptee's Return to Korea In Their Own Voices: Transracial Adoptees Tell Their Stories
      Rita Simon & Rhonda Roorda

    • Lions Roaring Far From Home: Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees
      Aselefech Evans

“When you were young and experienced traumas or attachment injuries, you didn’t have enough body or mind to protect yourself. Your Self couldn’t protect your parts, so your parts lost trust in your Self as the inner leader. They may even have pushed your Self out of your body and took the hit themselves—they believed they had to take over and protect you…”

Richard C. Schwartz, No Bad Parts

  • No Bad Parts
    Dick Schwartz

    It Didn’t Start with You
    Mark Wolynn

    The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control & Becoming Whole
    Dr. Arielle Schwartz

    Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress: Theory, Research, & Clinical Treatment
    Kevin Nadal

    Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation
    Dr. Janina Fisher

    The Body Keeps Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
    Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk

  • Motherhood So White
    Nefertiti Austin

    What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption: An Adoptee's Perspective on Its History, Nuances, and Practices
    Melissa Guida-Richards & Paula Guida (2021)

    Adoptionland: From Orphans to Activists
    Janine Myung Ja, Michael Allen Potter & Allen Vance

    American Baby; A Mother, A Child, & the Shadow History of Adoption
    Gabriel Glaser

    Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, & Welfare in the United States
    Rickie Solinger

    Buried Secrets; Living Children  Secrecy, Shame, & Sealed Adoption
    https://nursingclio.org/2017/10/10/buried-secrets-living-children-secrecy-shame-and-sealed-adoption-records/

    The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption
    Kathryn Joyce

    The Declassified Adoptee: Essays of an Adoption Activist
    Amanda Transue-Woolston

    Destined for Export
    Rachel Noland

    Finding Our Place: 100 Memorable Adoptees, Fostered Persons & Orphanage Alumni
    Nikki McCaslin

    Finding Fernanda; Two Mothers One Chlid & a Cross-Border Search
    Erin Soiegal

    The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade
    Ann Fessler

    Great Arizona Orphan Abduction
    Linda Gordon

    I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
    AustinChanning Brown

    Kinship by Design; A History of Adoption in the Modern Unites Staes

    Lost Daughters: Writing Adoption From a Place of Empowerment & Peace
    Amanda Transue-Woolston, Julie Stromberg, Karen Pickell & Jennifer Anastasi

    Primary sources on adoption history at the University of Oregon adoption archive. https://pages.uoregon.edu/adoption/archi

    Relinquished; The Politics of Adoption & the Privilege of American Motherhood

    Somebodies Baby; The Politics of Transracial Adoption
    Laura Briggs

    Taking Children; The History of American Terror
    Laura Briggs

    Torn Apart How the Welfare System Destroys Black Families – & How Abolition Can Build a Safer World

    Two Worlds: The Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Project

    Until I Find You
    Rachel Noland

    Wakeup Little Suzie: Single Pregnancy & Race Before Roe vs. Wade
    Rickie Solenger

  • Sick Enough: A Guide to the Medical Complications of Eating Disorders
    Jennifer Gaudiani

    Eating in the Light of the Moon
    Dr. Anita Johnston

    Life Without Ed
    Jenni Schaefer

    Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia
    Sabrina Strings

    The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love
    Sonya Renee Taylor

    Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach
    Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch

  • My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma & the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts & Bodies
    Resmaa Menakem

    So You Want to Talk About Race
    Ijeoma Oluo

    Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You 
    Jason Reynolds & Ibram Kendi

    Waking Up White
    Debby Irving

    What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption 
    Melissa Guida-Richards

    “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” and Other Conversations About Race
    Beverly Daniel Tatum