National Adoption Awareness Month

Alex
(Russian-NZ Adoptee)
This month for me is all about connection within the community. I know that all of our stories share ups and downs but having the support with others adopted helps. It’s a personal experience that we hold close to us but it’s also important to understand more as we go through our journeys. We learn on the go and though our stories are all unique, we all share that one thing in common - adoption.

Nina (Russian-American Adoptee)
November, the month of adoption awareness, is significant for me as it marks my own adoption. It's a time for reflection, celebration, and a chance to support the adoptee community.

Ivan (Russian-Spanish Adoptee)
NAAM for me means a special time to share our personal experiences with other adoptees and help them to find their roots, identity and history.

Angie (New Zealand Adoptee)
This month means that we get to share our stories to a wider audience, the pain and suffering adoption has caused in our lives. And the ability to create more awareness around it.

Nikole (Russian-American Adoptee)
I'm thankful for my adopted family and all they are, but I'm also amazingly blessed to have found my biological family and be building relationships with some. I'm blessed, I'm happy, I'm proud to be adopted.

Yekaterina
(Russian-Canadian Adoptee)
This month is a great way to raise awareness on the side of adoption many people overlook, or consider a taboo subject. Adoption is always an option, and education about adoption is a must

Marina (Ukrainian - Italian Adoptee)
NAAM for me is a period where I reflect more about what adoption brought and have taken away from me, and how I feel about it. It also gives me the opportunity to be more in touch with the adoptees community.

Elia
(Guatemalan - American Adoptee)
This month means happiness and pride. I am a proud Guatemalan Adoptee!

Daniel (Russian-American Adoptee)
NAAM allows me to reflect on where I came from, because it has such a big impact on where I’m going in life.

Valentina Burgess
(Russian-NZ Adoptee)
National Adoption Awareness Month holds significance for me. It's a time to acknowledge both the individuals impacted by adoption and the people facilitating it. This month emphasizes the importance of families created through adoption and highlights the ongoing quest of children awaiting their lasting families.

Gabriela Andersen
(Guatemalan-American Adoptee)
NAAM means holding a space to recognize the trauma experienced within adoption and accepting that it will carry with me throughout my entire life. To see other adoptees come together to share their stories and bring about conversations beyond our own community, gives me hope. A month of grieving and healing for the narrative that was once silenced.

Karen Rotella
(American Adoptee)
NAAM holds a significance for me. Having been adopted, I cherish the second chance at life I was given. Just like the Starfish Story. It represents my existence, like the day I first entered this world.

Erika Rush
(Colombian-New Zealand Adoptee)
This month is for acknowledging that adoption isn't a past event but a part of your life day to day. A part of your identity. Greatful, reverent and making the most of your life with grief and love.

Danielle Bolduc
(UK Adoptee)
NAAM is different for me each year but what I’m learning is to be me, feel confident but also safe in the body of an adoptee. There is a lot of reflection but most of all appreciation and gratitude for the life I’ve had but most of all the family I have been brought up in as these two things go hand in hand.

Lauren Deer
(Romanian-American Adoptee)
This month marks the time I was adopted into my family, being given the second chance at life I needed. This month is a time for me to sit with all the feelings that come up, and process it in a way that makes sense to me.

This is a month for me to recognize how thankful I am to have been given the opportunity to be loved and welcomed into my family, while at the same time, grieving the one I lost.

Zachary-Victor
(Russian-Ukrainian American Adoptee)
As a Russian-Ukrainian American Adoptee, these past 2 years have been difficult. But not being able to connect with my family and homeland has pushed me to connect with other adoptees even more. I have found the adoptee community can feel like family too.

Being adopted is a life-long journey and NAAM is the perfect time to embrace that.For me, NAAM is a month when I take time to reflect on my journey and prioritize my mental health.

I take time to be with myself and focus what’s most important to me.

I hope every adoptee has the opportunity to practice gratitude this month.

Laura Downing
(Russian-American Adoptee)
NAAM reminds me of how fortunate I am to have been adopted by such a wonderful family and of the special bond I share with all other adoptees.

Katya
(Ukrainian - American Adoptee)
Each year during NAAM, I reflect on a different aspect of my adoption and my journey because the passage of time carries new feelings and insights that I adapt to and learn from.

Alex
(Romanian - NZ - German Adoptee)
National Adoption Month is a very personal experience for me, here is a full TEDx talk where I share how International adoption has had such a positive impact on my life. Adoption is a very personal experience and that everyone is on their own journey. This makes the I’m Adopted community so unique as it allows everyone to share their journey in a safe and inclusive community.

Anya (Russian-NZ Adoptee)
For me, National Adoptee Awareness month is a period of introspection, connection, and appreciation for the life I have been given.

Tasheena (Canadian Adoptee)
This month means feeling heard. the trauma of being adopted the positive things and people it brought you. We all have different stories but can feel relief that none of us are alone.

Krista (American Adoptee)
I am so grateful I was adopted at seven, most kids don’t get adopted being older. I was given a life I never thought I could dream of and a loving family to care for me and love me.
My heart is while.

Adrian
(Peruvian-Canadian Adoptee)
This month has made me reflect on where I came from as an adoptee and the journey it has taken me on the ups and downs ! The most important part of it all the me is that our voices are heard and that we normalize adoption.

Micayla Armstrong
(American Adoptee)
NAAM is a time for me to reflect on my experience as a FFY and adoptee. It also allows me to spread awareness about issues affecting youth like me!