Returning to one’s birth country is a deeply personal and potentially transformative experience. There’s no set time when adoptees should undergo this trip, and not all adoptees will want to. It’s important it is their choice, when they’re ready, if they want it. For those who do choose to return, it is best done with careful planning, emotional readiness, and a support system. Our global community of intercountry adoptees is a phenomenal resource and offers much wisdom and insight about the complex journey we live. Returning to birth country is just one of many complex stages we navigate. Her ..read more

by Marta Weber, born in Ethiopia and adopted to the USA The decision to go and meet your biological family isn’t an easy one. There is no real manual on how to do it, or even what to expect. Like everything else about being adopted, it’s complex, a journey filled with so many plot twists and forks in the road. However, if you decide to do it, it will be the bravest and most life altering experience you might ever have. What no one really talks about is how this experience changes you. A piece of you knows that you won’t be the same person when you return. You also can’t know in which ..read more

by Marta Weber, adopted from Ethiopia to the USA I have been slow to share with people about my reunion. I think it’s because there is just so much left to unpack and my mind could only do little pieces at a time. This snapshot was one of those moments where I saw family traits. The way we sat and positioned ourselves. Even hearing from people that they had a hard time finding me in the picture because I looked so much like my sisters. My sisters continue to be a blessing to me. Kind and encouraging and so willing to share in my joys and sorrows. I have always been blessed with incredibly sup ..read more

by Emma Fujuan Roberts-Vaurio 崇福娟, adopted from China to the USA It’s interesting to think that for a good amount of my time living here, I really miss everything and everyone in the USA. In the same way, now I see how I will miss everything and everyone in China. This feeling resonates loudly with me as feelings connected to living in the in-between. My connection to the concept of “homecoming” is abundant and full. It transcends places and people because it is both. Leaving the USA and coming to China was a type of “homecoming” while leaving China and returning to the USA is another type of ..read more

by Emma Fujuan Roberts-Vaurio 崇福娟, adopted from China to the USA I wanted to share about the 2nd Chinese Adoptee Symposium while I was in China, with the end of the semester being busy I decided to wait until I had the capacity to gather my thoughts, so here it goes. On April 27th, 2024 we hosted the 2nd Chinese Adoptee Symposium at NYU Shanghai’s campus. This year’s symposium built off of last year’s Inaugural Chinese Adoptee Symposium which was created by Chinese & Korean Adoptees: Yuechi K., Leigh J., Leyla B., and Dan B. For this year’s symposium, Yuechi K. and I worked closely togethe ..read more

by Emma Fujuan Roberts-Vaurio 崇福娟, adopted from China to the USA While in Wuhan, I visited the hotel my parents stayed at when they came to China in ‘97 to adopt me and the hotel where I met them for the first time in my life . The hotel’s English name is the Lake View Garden Hotel in Wuhan. Walking up to the hotel I was taken away by the beauty of it. Through its embellishments of red with gold dragons decorating the outside, the serene lake view, and the stunning lobby which highlights Chinese art such as wood carvings and furniture, stone statues, and Chinese paintings, I could understand w ..read more

by Hollee McGinnis, adopted from South Korea to the USA, Founder of Also-Known-As (AKA), Assistant Professor of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University May 15, 1975. This little three in a half year old in the red and white pantsuit boarded a plane and the life she had known and the people she loved were lost to her, forever. Or so her little body believed. The familiar songs, lilt of her native tongue, her name, in 24 hours became erased, forever. Or so her little body felt. She fought and broke away from her escort at the airport, and ran back to her foster parents clinging and cryin ..read more

by Meseret Cohen, adopted from Ethiopia to Australia, ICAV Representative WA This article was originally published at Meseret’s LinkedIn News page Returning and reconnection with original family and culture for an adoptee can create a mix of emotions. It can also give the greatest opportunity to answer the big questions you may have. I was 18 years old when I decided to return to Ethiopia. I had no idea what the process was or what types of emotional preparation I needed for it. Even though I was adopted as a teenager and migrated to Australia at 14 years old, it was remarkable how I had disco ..read more

On 18 May 2024, ICAV was invited by Identity Rights Group, chaired by Child Identity Protection (CHIP) and the Institute of Statelessness and Inclusion, to speak as one of 20 organisations to join in with and present to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) about Children’s Rights to Access Justice and Effective Remedies. The organisations included UNICEF, UNHCR and ICAV. Watch our ICAV presentation below, followed by the closing statements made by the UNCRC Chairperson, Ann Skelton: (click on CC for subtitles in English) Read our ICAV transcript here. Many thanks to Identity Ri ..read more

I’ve known Meredith for many years now, she’s a fellow intercountry adoptee, born in China and adopted to the UK. She’s also a law graduate and a talented musician whose music features in the ICAV Video for Professionals released in 2021. I met up with her face to face at the recent INEA Congress in the Netherlands and it was such a delight to give her a huge hug and spend some time together. She has since sent me her latest song which she would like to share. After listening to her newest song, I told her I thought it was very courageous to share what I’m sure many adoptees like me will say ..read more