To kick off National Adoption Month, we hosted our third virtual Heart-to-Heart event of the year!
The focus of this event was The Adoption Triad, and we were lucky enough to be joined by three complete triads willing to share their stories with our audience. Our first triad’s presenters were the birth mom, Michelle, adoptee Caitlin, and adoptive mom, Cathy. Caitlin’s adoption was finalized in 1988, so this triad has 35 years of experience navigating their relationships. Our second triad consisted of the birth mom, Meredith, the adoptee, Lila, and the adoptive mom, Jacki. Lila’s adoption was finalized in 2008. Our third triad consisted of birth siblings, Rain & Erin, adoptee Hailey, adoptive mom, Becca, and adoptive dad, Dave. Hailey’s adoption was finalized in 2009. However, Hailey did not have the opportunity to create a connection with any of her birth family members for the past 14 years.
Hailey and her birth siblings Rain and Erin met this August for the first time. It was unique to hear about how our first triad’s experience compared to our second & third triad, as their finalizations occurred about 20 years later. We were fortunate enough to have three complete triads with very different experiences that allowed us to provide our audience with various examples that affirm each triad’s journey will look different.
Watch for dates coming soon for our 2024 Heart-to-Heart virtual events! We will have a February event focusing on Transracial Adoption, a June LGBTQIA+-focused event, and a November event that will dive into Mental Health Awareness within the adoption community. We are excited at the opportunity to continue educating our community and beyond about essential topics such as these.
If you have a topic, you would like us to focus on in a future Heart-to-Heart, please feel free to leave it in the comments below!
