AMERICAN INDIAN ADOPTEES

An exciting blog about all things adoptee-related - in particular American Indian adoptees who are called Lost Children, Lost Birds, Lost Ones and Split Feathers. This blog is updated regularly by journalist-adoptee Trace A. DeMeyer, author of ONE SMALL SACRIFICE: A Memoir and the new book TWO WORLDS: Lost Children of the Indian Adoption Projects with Patricia Berdan Cotter-Busbee. The only way we can change history is to write it ourselves.....and the truth shall set us free...

Friday, June 1, 2012

IF... repost from Von

If……….

by eagoodlife

So tell me, if adoption is so wonderful and beautiful -

Why don't adoptees have equal rights?
Why so much adopter angst and justification?
Why do we cost so much?
Why do people fight over us?
Why do open adoptions close?
Why can't we know our full stories like everyone else does?
Why do we need the UN to focus on us specifically?
Why are we marketed?
Why do adopters go to jail for abusing and killing us?
Why do attorneys and others go to jail over it?
Why do we still suffer stigma, racism and adoptism?
Why is there so much argument over us, about us and with us?
Why has consensus not been reached?
Why aren't all mothers happy, content and pleased about the future they gave us/are giving us?
Why in Australia will the Federal and all State Governments be apologising for adoption?
Why do organisations exist to research, oppose and educate about adoption?
Why are so many books written, films made and blogs written about adoption by adoptees?
Why are so many making money from something others see as 'a gift'?
Why does adoption involve lies, scams, deception, illusion, omissions and secrets?
Why does adoption break-down and adoptees are returned, sent back or re-homed?
Why are the figures for domestic and transnational adoption falling steadily?
Why are adoption agencies going out of business or being prosecuted?
Why do professionals describe such things as 'the mask of adoption', 'adoption syndrome' and so on?
Why do research figures show such a high rate of psychological difficulties for adoptees? A recent adoptee conducted survey indicated nearly 90% of adoptees at some time suffer anxiety and depression!
Why the continuous hard-sell?
Why specialist therapies, interventions and practitioners?
Why so many non-adoptees unable to cope with the views of adult adoptees on adoption?
Why so many myths, lies and deceptions about adoption?
Why is so much money needed, so many bribes and sweeteners?
Why are so few adoptees pandering to the market with books, training etc ?

A couple of interesting links packed with information and differing views on adoption's beauty, relevance and integrity in case you haven't seen them -

coming-out-from-ones-own-ignorance-is-considered-radical/

stigmas-about-adoption-remain-and-hurt-families

I had to share this blog post from my adoptee friend Von who is in Australia - add your own IF question in the comments section... Trace

No comments:

FIVE STAR review of One Small Sacrifice

Paula Benoit wrote:

One Small Sacrifice is a must read for anyone touched by adoption. I couldn't put this book down from the moment I started reading it. Trace DeMeyer has captured the heart and soul of life as an adoptee brought into a culture not originally her own. The importance of adoptees knowing who they are and where they come from is paramount to their mental, physical and spiritual wellness. She points out many reasons why people feel complete when they have their original identity, not just the identity given to them by their adopted parents. Millions of adult adoptees across the United States are without their original identity because of sealed birth certificates and Trace takes the readers along her journey to understanding who she is and where it all began for her.

(Paula Benoit, former State Senator in Maine, helped Maine unseal their adoption records) (see more great reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!)

Wonderful review on Amazon!

Two Worlds - Lost children of the Indian Adoption Projects
If you thought that ethnic cleansing was something for the history books, think again. This work tells the stories of Native American Indian adoptees "The Lost Birds" who continue to suffer the effects of successive US and Canadian government policies on adoption; policies that were in force as recently as the 1970's. Many of the contributors still bear the scars of their separation from their ancestral roots. What becomes apparent to the reader is the reality of a racial memory that lives in the DNA of adoptees and calls to them from the past. The editors have let the contributors tell their own stories of their childhood and search for their blood relatives, allowing the reader to gain a true impression of their personalities. What becomes apparent is that nothing is straightforward; re-assimilation brings its own cultural and emotional problems.
Not all of the stories are harrowing or sad; there are a number of heart-warming successes, and not all placements amongst white families had negative consequences. But with whom should the ultimate decision of adoption reside? Government authorities or the Indian people themselves? Read Two Worlds and decide for yourself. (on Amazon UK)