Adoption is a lifelong journey. Join Linda, an adoptive parent of a Chinese intercountry adoptee in conversation with Kayla, a Korean intercountry adoptee as they engage in a robust dialogue about their adoption related lived experiences discussing the nuanced and complex challenges of intercountry and transcultural adoptions. Together they explore the different but connected journeys for parents and adoptees, reflecting on the ‘growing up’ life stages and adverse events that adoptees and their families continually navigate. 

Hear about how Linda and Kayla’s professional practice combined with their personal experience of adoption provides a peer, lived expertise lens in the work they do to support their community. Kayla and Linda’s presentation highlights the importance of acknowledging and discussing adoption related trauma, and how having conversations together helps communities and families heal together. By working together in sharing their unique parent-adoptee perspectives, challenging conversations can feel rewarding, psycho-educational and help in growing safe, connected spaces across adoption communities. 

Professionals will have the opportunity to grow their adoption awareness in learning from lived expertise, to gain an understanding of how-to best support adopted children to process and heal from adoption related trauma and attachment injury.  Additionally, learn how to support important family conversations about adoption and the complex intersections of race and racism, birth families and belonging. Hear Kayla describe her learned ways of living with adoption related trauma and how disenfranchised grief and loss of birth family, country and culture impact on identity development and experiencing secure relationships. Linda will share the importance of parent self-work using a therapeutic parenting approach that is trauma informed and child centered. 

Finally learn what their collective lived experiences have taught them - collaboration is key- no one single experience can carry the expertise of this community.