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

  • 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)

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

    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

    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 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

    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)

  • Keegan-Michael Key Talks Adoption, Fear of Abandonment and His 'People-Pleasing Issue’
    people.com/tv/keegan-michael-key-reflects-adoption-experience-running-wild-exclusive/

    “Not My Adoptee!” Yes, Your Adoptee
    severancemag.com/not-my-adoptee-yes-your-adoptee

    I Am Grateful To Be Adopted—and Yet, Adoption Is Still Traumatic
    verywellmind.com/i-am-grateful-to-be-adopted-and-adoption-is-still-traumatic-5224328

  • #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

  • 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 States

    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

    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

“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

  • 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