10 Adoption Reunion Stories You Need to Know

Everyone involved in the adoption process has a story to tell.

This rings true for adoptive parents, birth families and adoptees alike. As an adoptee, you may be curious about exploring others’ stories. In particular, you could be looking for stories about adoption reunions.

We have created this expansive list of adoptee blogs, books and movies about adoption reunions that you might relate to and connect with. While you digest these stories, keep in mind that no two adoption journeys are the same. Everyone experiences unique rewards and challenges, so some of these adoption reunion stories may not align with yours.

With that being said, here are 10 adoption reunion stories for you to dive into and learn from:

Blogs about Adoptee Stories [From Adoptees Like You]

There’s no doubt that adoption is complex, and there are many emotional highs and lows that come packaged with it. As an adoptee, you know that it isn’t simple, and reading about others’ experiences as adoptees can help you process your own journey. Here are some blogs about adoption reunion stories that you can check out whenever you’re ready:

• American Adoptions’ Adoptee Testimonials: A great place to start is our very own testimonials page for adoptees. For adoptees like you, we have several articles, some of which adoptees have written themselves that showcase why they’re grateful for adoption. Still, some adoptees may not know who their birth parents are, and a handful of these testimonials focus on adoption reunion stories.
• The Adopted Life: Another blog worth your time is from Angela Tucker, a transracial adoptee who writes about her reunion with her birth family and her work as an adoption activist. In her blog, The Adopted Life, she explores how the complexities of race can factor into adoption as well as her accomplishments as an adoption educator.
• A Chinese Adoptee’s Journey: In this blog, an international adoptee speaks about her journey, which details the emotional highs and lows that all adoptees know are integral to the adoption experience. A Chinese Adoptee’s Journey, in particular, may resonate with international adoptees and the rewards and challenges unique to this type of adoption.
• Declassified Adoptee: One blog that focuses on adoption reunion stories is Declassified Adoptee by Amanda Woolston. In her posts, Woolston chronicled her experiences searching for her birth parents. Over time, she became an author and adoption activist. She also has degrees in social work, so her writing explores adoption from a multidimensional perspective.

Books about Adoption Reunion Stories [Written by Adoptees]

On top of finding adoption reunion stories online, you can also look to books for a solid adoption narrative. Although there are many books about adoption out there, you may be curious about books that explore adoption reunions, to be specific. To get you started, here are some books about adoption reunions that you can look into:

• Birthright: The Guide to Search and Reunion for Adoptees, Birthparents, and Adoptive Parents: Jean A.S. Strauss, an adoptee, writes about searching for her birth parents throughout the 1980s. Technology has improved quite a bit since then, to say the least. Strauss provides tips throughout the book to help adoptees like you reunite with their birth parents, too.
• Ithaka: A Daughter’s Memoir of Being Found: For those searching for adoption reunion stories, Sarah Saffian’s memoir is an excellent read. She writes about her experience as an adoptee in a closed adoption. But, when she turned 23, she discovered that her birth mother reached out to her out of nowhere. This story could connect with adoptees whose birth parents initiated contact with them after adoption.
• The Adoption Reunion Handbook: If you are an adoptee searching for your long-lost birth parents, then this handbook from Liz Trinder, Julia Feast and David Howe could be a wonderful resource for you. In this book, you can also read about other people’s adoption reunion stories and learn from them.
• My Family Is Forever: We should mention that this book is aimed at children and younger adoptees who may be having a hard time processing their adoption. Nancy Carlson’s book is about a young, transracial adoptee who doesn’t know her birth parents, but she realizes that she can still love her adoptive parents just the same. It may not focus on an adoption reunion, but this book can deeply connect with children who are adoptees.

Movies about Adoption Reunion Stories

If you are looking for adoption reunion stories in a different medium, then you can also watch movies that detail adoptees’ reunion experiences. Films can capture some elements of adoption that written media, such as blogs or books, can’t. To be specific, movies show the visual aspects of adoption in eye-catching detail, so here are a few films about adoptees and their life paths:

• Closure: A Documentary about Adoption: Angela Tucker, a transracial adoptee who also writes her blog, The Adopted Life, has a documentary about her search and reunion with her birth parents. The film is available to watch on Hulu, and you can also buy a digital download of the movie from the official website.
• PACT Camp for Transracial Adoptees: This is another film from Angela Tucker, but it is much shorter in length than Closure, which is a feature-length documentary. In this 20-minute video, transracial adoptees speak about the rewards and obstacles they have faced as transracial adoptees. Although this video doesn’t directly reference adoption reunion stories, you may connect with it if you’re a transracial adoptee who has experienced similar things.

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This can feel like a lot of information to soak in at once. Because of that, we understand if you’re looking for more adoption reunion stories. If that’s the case, then be sure to check out our comprehensive list of resources and websites for adoptees! We hope that this list was helpful to you in some way, and we wish you the best of luck in finding an adoption reunion story that resonates with you.

Disclaimer
Information available through these links is the sole property of the companies and organizations listed therein. American Adoptions provides this information as a courtesy and is in no way responsible for its content or accuracy.