Adoptee Advocates of Michigan

The fortuity of citizenship status for Americans fearing deportations For months now, we have seen families ripped apart and acts of murder in our streets at the hands of ICE agents.

The 2001 Child Citizenship Act granted automatic citizenship to adoptees born or adopted after February 27, 1983, leaving others without guaranteed legal status. Many don’t discover until adulthood that the country they grew up in doesn’t legally recognize them as citizens. buff.ly/YjovFFg 🥚

Why you should never ask prospective parents: 'Have you considered adoption?' Before you ever ask someone about adoption, read this.

Adoptions in Australia have dropped sharply since the forced adoptions of 1950–1975, which affected around 250,000 people, and many countries now no longer allow intercountry adoption. The article also emphasizes that adoption is not a solution to infertility. www.mamamia.com.au/how-adoption...

How Do Trump’s Immigration and Deportation Laws Affect International Adoptees? | League of Women Voters A complicated legal system, the fraught history of international adoption, and the current Administration’s rhetoric around citizenship and immigration have caused concern for many adoptees. Are they…

Many people assume intercountry adoptees automatically become U.S. citizens, but tens of thousands face uncertainty and risk due to legal loopholes. Support the Protect Adoptees and American Families Act in Congress to close these gaps and safeguard adoptees and their families. 🥚

There are over 400 orphans and adopted children on the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region Over 400 orphaned and adopted children currently reside in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region, with detailed statistics from local authorities as of February 2026.

In Ukraine’s Kherson region, over 400 children are classified as orphans, deprived of parental care, or listed as adopted in official records. The report shows the ongoing risks these vulnerable kids face amid occupation and conflict, and the challenges of ensuring their safety. buff.ly/fWIbKEG 🥚

Utah adoption agency to close doors as changing laws make 'remaining operational impossible' A Utah adoption agency closed its doors suddenly late last month, as changing laws and growing opposition to recruiting birth moms to the state “have made remaining operational impossible.”

Utah’s Brighter Adoptions Agency has abruptly closed ahead of state law changes designed to protect birth mothers, including out-of-state mothers recruited by the agency. HB 51 limits payments to birth mothers, requires agencies to become licensed, and bans coercive practices. buff.ly/8oG0HH3 🥚

Samoan teenager adopted in 'coerced' migration, tribunal told She was six months pregnant when she arrived and had a caesarean birth, but fled the house when she was subject to violence leaving her baby behind.

A Samoan teenager was adopted in a “coerced relocation,” not a genuine adoption, where her baby was then taken. Evidence shows other Samoan youth were brought to New Zealand similarly, and later put into forced labor and abuse. 🥚

Teen mothers were silenced in 1960s maternity homes. Could it happen again? Kate Schatz’s novel "Where the Girls Were" revisits an era of secrecy, shame and girls pressured to give up their babies.

Pregnant teens from the Baby Scoop era were sent to secluded maternity homes, labeled unfit due to depression, pressured to relinquish their babies, and stay silent about their experiences. Today, Christian-nationalists could bring this reality back to life. 🥚

A new study by Winston-Salem State University, published March 2026, analyzed responses from 1,313 adoptees, first mothers, and fathers through the PEAR survey. The results indicate that adoption has a profound and lasting negative impact on both adoptees and first mothers. buff.ly/yXC9dWX 🥚

Congratulations to the Virginia Adoptee Rights Alliance for their incredible work on getting their equal rights bill through both chambers. Great job 👏

Couple let adopted 3-year-old starve to death while ignoring repeated medical appointments Police said the couple were told to bring Berko to a pediatrician, but "refused to engaged with medical professionals and cancelled multiple appointments."

On February 20, Demetres Givens and Jamie Thompson were sentenced 8-12 years after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of their 3-year-old adopted son, Berko, after ignoring medical advice and letting him to starve to death.https://buff.ly/G2vVU5L 🥚

The growing backlash to Indiana’s baby box empire Monica Kelsey says her devices save lives. Critics say they’re unsafe — and not a solution for moms in crisis.

While Kelsey promotes baby boxes as a way to “save babies like her,” nearly 100 academics, child welfare experts, researchers, and legislators have asked the USDHHS to regulate them over serious safety, legal, and ethical concerns, saying they don't support parents in crisis. buff.ly/wxMUOdn 🥚

Workshop: Replacing a Lost Certificate of Citizenship | AU How to apply for a new certificate of citizenship/naturaliation if the original has been lost---or if your name has changed

adopteesunited.org/workshop-rep... 🥚

Researchers Find Concerning Outcomes for Native Foster Youth Loss of cultural and kinship ties causes adverse outcomes into adulthood for Indigenous foster youth and adoptees, according to new research.

Yale and Johns Hopkins studied eight Great Lakes reservations and found that Native adults who experienced foster care or adoption report lower family satisfaction, with child welfare involvement echoing the generational trauma of boarding schools and placement in non-Native homes. buff.ly/tDB4nhx 🥚

How To Apply For Your Michigan Birth Information, Adoptee Workshop, Tue, Mar 3, 2026, 6:30 PM | Meetup **HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR MICHIGAN BIRTH INFORMATION** **ADOPTEE WORKSHOP** This online workshop is designed for Michigan Adult Adoptees who are struggling to navigate the pr

www.meetup.com/metro-detroi... 🥚

BIG NEWS: Virginia’s OBC bill just cleared Senate committee yesterday and could reach the Senate floor Tuesday. Let’s help make Virginia the next state to restore equal rights. Every state we win pushes the next one closer.🥚

Court OKs Lawsuit by Kids Who Were Denied Placement With Kin A New York appeals court has revived a lawsuit brought by children who were denied foster placements with relatives.

A federal appeals court revived a lawsuit on behalf of New York children who were denied foster placement with willing relatives, acknowledging that children face real-world harm when blocked from stable homes with family ready to care for them. 🥚

Pastor, wife forced adopted children to eat out of dumpster and sleep in trash can: Cops A South Carolina pastor and his wife are facing dozens of child abuse charges after their adopted children accused them of forcing them to eat out of dumpsters and sleep in trash cans.

Pastor Myron Chorbajian and his wife, Kathleen, are facing numerous charges tied to decades of abuse of their adopted and biological children. The allegations include criminal sexual conduct with minors, incest, assault and battery, and unlawfully placing children at risk. 🥚

A U.S. veteran adopted an orphan from Iran. Decades later, ICE is trying to deport her The woman has no criminal record and is unsure what prompted the threat of removal. She fears being deported to Iran given her father's military service and her Christian faith.

A woman adopted from Iran as a toddler by U.S. parents just learned her citizenship wasn't finalized as a child and she now faces deportation despite having no criminal record. Ask Congress to support the Protect Adoptees and American Families (PAAF) Act. 🥚

The Oklahoma bill claims to “protect parental rights” by giving adoptive parents authority to enforce a child’s biological sex, stripping them of autonomy and recognition of their gender identity. This framing ignores a child’s fundamental rights. www.okhouse.gov/posts/news-2... 🥚

Born in China, raised in US: adoptees explore their identity at Lunar New Year Growing up Chinese-American has not been easy for LuLu Grant and Phoebe McChesney, both wanting to fit in, while never too far from the past.

For Chinese-born adoptees LuLu and Phoebe, both adopted to the U.S., the Lunar New Year highlights ongoing questions about what it means to be both Chinese and American, along with the emotional challenges of reconciling their origins with their lives in the U.S. 🥚

LA Foster Youth Advocate Denied Bond While Fighting Deportation An immigration judge has denied bail for a well-known foster youth advocate who has been locked up in a Southern California detention center.

Adriel Pecero, a valued community member and LA foster youth advocate, remains jailed and fighting deportation despite no convictions from his arrests. Like him, roughly 57% of immigrants arrested last summer in LA faced no charges. imprintnews.org/top-stories/... 🥚

Bo Hee Moon’s Adoptee Narrative Imagines What Might Have Been In this PEN Ten Interview, Bo Hee Moon discusses her newest poetry collection, Birthstones in the Province of Mercy.

Poet Bo Hee Moon, a South Korean adoptee, explores her adoption and reconnection with her roots in 'Birthstones in the Province of Mercy.' Her poems blend fact and imagination, envisioning what life may have been like with her birth mother while processing her upbringing. buff.ly/PhpdK3f 🥚

Adoptee Healing: Reclaiming Black Identity After Transracial Adoption Tiana Hawver and Dr. Abby Hasberry explore Black adoptee identity, healing, and resilience, centering adoptee voices and lived experiences.

Join us tomorrow for a real conversation about identity, healing, and what it means to grow up as a Black adoptee in a transracial family. 🥚
www.eventbrite.com/e/adoptee-he...

New initiative to provide homes for aged-out foster youth “We can take a population that was ignored and part of the problem and turn them into a part of the solution.”

Many young people who have experienced foster care face a sudden loss of stability and support at 18. A new initiative in St. Pete offers homes and guidance for those aging out, helping them transition with dignity and opportunity. 🥚

Adoptee Healing: Reclaiming Black Identity After Transracial Adoption Tiana Hawver and Dr. Abby Hasberry explore Black adoptee identity, healing, and resilience, centering adoptee voices and lived experiences.

Join us for a real conversation about identity, healing, and what it means to grow up as a Black adoptee in a transracial family. 🥚

The Swedes searching for their Colombian mothers 40 years after their adoptions: ‘They stole my identity’ A government report from the European country acknowledges that the processes were plagued with irregularities, from the theft of babies to documents with false information.

A Swedish government report confirms what adoptees from Colombia have long suspected: past adoption practices were riddled with stolen babies and falsified documents, leaving lifelong questions and a call for accountability. 🥚

Idaho House will consider bill to protect foster youths’ survivor benefits  • Idaho Capital Sun The Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday advanced a bill to protect foster youths' Social Security survivor benefits.

The Idaho House is reviewing a bill to protect foster youths’ Social Security survivor benefits, ensuring the funds go to the youth instead of being used by the state to cover care costs. 🥚

Adoptee Healing: Reclaiming Black Identity After Transracial Adoption Tiana Hawver and Dr. Abby Hasberry explore Black adoptee identity, healing, and resilience, centering adoptee voices and lived experiences.

Let’s talk about identity, belonging, and healing after transracial adoption. This conversation is for adoptees, families, and allies. 🥚

“Chef’s DNA” Ryu Soo-young explores the roots of Korean cuisine with a Belgian adoptee chef - MK Actor Ryu Soo-young teams up in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province with Belgian chef and Korean adoptee Aejin Heuys to create a full table of dishes showcasing the unique “sonmat,” or the cook’s…

South Korea continues to confront the legacy of international adoption as adoptee stories reach wider audiences through media. This article highlights how sharing lived experiences is prompting reflection on identity, belonging, and the lasting impact of adoption. 🥚 www.mk.co.kr/en/broadcast...

The Protect Adoptees and American Families Act (PAAF Act), introduced in 2025, aims to close the loopholes that allow American-raised children to face deportation. However, the pending bill does not explicitly include children brought into the country on certain visas decades ago. 🥚