There’s something temptingly tidy about the idea of adoption. A family with extra love and resources meets a child in desperate need of both. Being adopted typically begins at the intersection of grief and loss for our birth parents and great joy for our adoptive parents.
Angela Tucker is on a mission to center adoptee voices — which have been historically marginalized — because she considers adoptees the experts in the adoption experience. That’s a great point, and adoptive parents are wise to listen, to understand.
In this new podcast episode of Adoption: The Long View, Angela talks about what it’s like to be wedged between the great pain of one set of parents and the great joy of the other. She tells a story about what can happen to an adopted person when they repeat an oft-used adoptive parent explanation like born in my heart. She also reveals the one thing that can stop an adoptee in their tracks from being authentic and vulnerable with their parents.
Day 1 centered on the Capitol and Day 2 featured a White House meeting. Day 3 includes talking about adoption reform with lawmakers. Plus dropping in on a House Committee meeting and getting gussied up for a gala.
How to Advocate
CCAI (Congressional Coalition of Adoption Institute), started our morning with a legislative seminar. We got tips on how to talk with legislators about what we think should happen with the state of Adoption. We then broke into small groups, each one led by a CCAI representative.
With Chuck Johnson of NCFA (top), and Leesa and Mike Worley of Colorado Springs.
Mine was Chuck Johnson, President and CEO of the National Council for Adoption. We headed first to the office of the Senator who nominated me for the Angels in Adoption® award.
What a week to be in Washington, DC! Thanks to Angels in Adoption®, I drank from a fire hose for three days. This post, the first in a series, is my attempt to parcel it out in a manageable stream.
The Senate side of the dome where it happens (dome where it happens).
Friends
I shared a room with friends. Fellow Angels Rebecca Vahle (2011) and Dixie Weber (2017) were my roomies and cohorts in both play and purpose. Rebecca is the founder of the Family to Family Support Network. Dixie, a nurse and healthcare executive, is the newly appointed National Director of Healthcare Programs. Meaning that she helps the Family to Family Support Network provide neutral compassionate care for moms and babies in unique situations such as adoption.
