Adoptee & Foster Voices

Websites

Adoptee Reading - books by or recommended by adoptees!
Adoptees On - including a podcast
Adoption Mosaic - local to Portland Metro with Astrid Castro
Angela Tucker, The Adopted Life - local to Washington state - author in ORPARC's library
April Dinwoodie - author in ORPARC's library
Be the Bridge - resources for transracial adoptees
Be You Bravely - transracial adoptee local to Oregon & ORPARC partner leading group for teens/young people
BIPOC Adoptees
Celia Center with Jeanette Yoffe - adoptee - author in ORPARC's library
Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker, Blog - transracial adoptee & adoptive parent psychologist - author in ORPARC's library
Foster Club - Oregon-based national organization
Harlow's Monkey
Intercountry Adoptee Voices
Isaac Etter - transracial adoptee - author in ORPARC's library
Dr. Staci Martin - adoptee, Portland State University professor, ORPARC internship partner, amazing artist & scholar
Josh Shipp - foster care alum - author in ORPARC's library
Lost Daughters
Mercy and Healing- adoptee, speaker, writer & parent coach April Guffey in Central Oregon
Let Us Be Greater - transracial adoptee and adoptive parent Michelle Madrid Branch - author in ORPARC's library
Oregon Foster Youth Connection
PACT - for adoptees
Suni Zmich - transracial adoptee hoping to hear from Korean adoptees for her project - author in ORPARC's library
This Adoptee Life
The Storyboard Project - resources for young people moving to adulthood
UR (Unbelievably Resilient) - foster care alum
Walter Dean Meyers - foster adopt alumni and prolific award-winning author of many books, including multiple in ORPARC's library!
Wreckage & Wonder

Recommended Books & Articles

Foster & Adoptee Voice-related materials in ORPARC's library, including Closure: A Documentary About Adoption

Culturally Specific Resources in Oregon - listed on our Transracial/Cultural Diversity page
About Adopterism by Gazillion Voices
The Adopted Life Blog: Blogging Her Truth by Angela Tucker - author in ORPARC's library
Adoptee Voices Storytelling and Blog
- If you are an adoptee, you can write & submit a post to the blog!
Annie E. Casey Foundation – advocacy and relevant topics, like permanence
April Dinwoodie Blog and Other Articles - author in ORPARC's library
Asian Adoptee Support by Harmony - many resources
Be Well: Adoptees Coping with Covid19 by adoptee Dr. Susan Branco
Dr. Jaiya John - poet, orator, and foster adoptee - author in ORPARC's library!
EMK Press - adoptee books and resources
Famous Foster Children Who Have Been Through Foster Care by Tish Gallegos
Finding Closure When Your Birth Parent Search is Not Successful by Adoptions from the Heart
Foster to Famous Featuring Jamerika Haynes Lewis by Foster Club
Foster Focus - a magazine by foster alum
Foster Strong – founded by a foster adoptee and Foster Club All Star
How One International Adoptee Bride Reclaimed her Identity Through Her Wedding by Kalinda for Offbeat Bride
How Therapy Can Be a Form of Healing for Foster Youth by Thalia Bernal
How to Cope with Birth Parents Not Wanting to Reunite by Considering Adoption
The Intersection of Generational Trauma and Foster Care by Lexi Borgeson, The Imprint
The Masks We Wear by Caitlin Woodstock, Boston Post Adoption Resources
Michelle Madrid-Branch - adoptee & adoptive parent - author in ORPARC's library!
National Council for Adoption - Adopted Individuals Resources
Oregon Foster Child Bill of Rights and en español - printable poster 11x17
- for older youth in English and en español 8x11
- for younger children in English and en español 8x11

Reckoning with the Primal Wound an Interview with Isaac Etter by On Your Feet Foundation
Social Media Use Among Adoption Triad by Adoptions With Love
State of Oregon Library Students Services - including resources like talking books
Stories for Youth in Foster Care by Coalition for Children, Youth & Families, Wisconsin
Tossed Up Between Two Worlds: Tales from a Girl Who Can Dance In Between by Rachel Shifaraw
The Truth About Adoption: An Adoptee's Perspective by Stephanie Drenka
Transfiguring Adoption – many blog articles
- Voices of Adoptees
- Voices of Current/Foster Foster Youth
The Value of Adoptee Voices by Adoption Council, Adoption Advocate No. 166
What a Black Adoptee Wishes Her White Parents Had Told Her by Rachel Hatzipanagos
Why the Adoptee Voice is the Most Important Voice in Adoption by Adoption Voices

Native Voices

Daughter of a Lost Bird and Interview - documentary of adoptee Kendra Mylnechuk Potter's (Lummi Nation) rediscovery of her heritage
Keep Our Families Together by Eva Lopez, ACLU - voices of two Native people (Little Shell Chipewa and Rosebud Sioux Tribe) impacted by ICWA
Welcome Home by Marcie Rendon - the story of Sandy White Hawk's (Sicangu Lakota) adoption & return to home
Where Do I Belong?' Native roots, hard realities surface in woman's search for her past by Dan Gunderson, North Star Journey - Peggy Mandel's (Ojibwe) story (article + audio)

Videos & Podcasts

Adoptees Crossing Lines Podcast
The Adoptee Nextdoor Podcast by Angela Tucker - author in ORPARC's library
The Black Adoption Podcast by Black Adoptees
Being Adopted with Amy Wilkerson (transracial, transnational adoptee) by Robyn Gobbel Podcast - author in ORPARC's library
Carbon Fiber John - foster alum and Paralympian (video)
Diaries of a Black Girl in Foster Care (podcast)
Every Conversation Matters: Youth Voices by The Children's Bureau (video)
The Resilient Caregiver Podcast with Mike & Kristin Berry - authors in ORPARC's library
- Finding the Peace: One Man's Powerful Story About Finding His Biological Family with Willie Moore, Jr.
- How Two Foster Kids Beat the Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness and Love - book in ORPARC's library
Fostering Lauren YouTube Channel - by foster teen alum who now fosters
Foster Strong Podcast
I Found My Birthmother...It Didn't Rock My Life - And That's Okay by Ashley Westerman for NPR (article + podcast)
A Kids Book About Adoption - read aloud by youth adoptee author Leul Gurske and co-author adoptive parent Nabil Zerizef - author in ORPARC's library (video)
Little Did U Know podcast by Matthew Anthony
My Story of Love & Loss as a Transracial Adoptee by Sara Johns, TedTalk
Once Upon a Time in Adopteeland (podcast)
Reconciling the Worlds of Her Adoptive & Birth Parents featuring Caroline Donica by Maggie O'Neill (video)
ReMoved - series of film shorts on foster care from the child's perspective
The Storyboard Project - video series of foster alum voices
Transracial Adoptee Voices of Love & Trauma by Mikayla Zobek, TedTalk
UR (Unbelievably Resilient) Podcast - foster care alum voices
Voices of Youth in Foster Care - A Series by Annie E. Casey Foundation (video)

Ms. Ambassador USA 2021 -Jamerika Haynes-Lewis

From foster alum to famous! Jamerika, now also Voice for Adoption's "Using My Story for Positive Change Award" winner 2021, we are honored to know you. Read all about Jamerika's journey here...