AHA: Adoptees Have Answers

St. John’s University Adoption Conference

afjellman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:37:54 +0000

The 7th biennial conference will be held October 18-20 at St. John’s University in Manhatten, New York. The theme this year is Best Interests of the Child: Race, Religion and Rescue in Adoption. VIsit their website for more information.

Good Grief: Symposium in Canada

afjellman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:52:46 +0000

Forget Me Not Family Society will be hosting a weekend workshop, October 14-16, in Richmond, B.C. Joe Soll, LCSW, DAPA, will be presenting. Joe is the author of Adoption Healing…A Path to Recovery, and co-author of Evil Exchange and Fatal Flight. He is also a psychotherapist, lecturer and director/co-founder of Adoption Crossroads, an international, non-profit organization. Please visit their website for more information.

Concerned United Birthmothers Retreat

afjellman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:31:46 +0000

The CUB Retreat will be held October 14-16, 2011. “It is a unique experience for birthparents, adoptees, adoptive parents and others touched by adoption. It is not just another conference. There are always interesting and insightful speakers, both professional and those speaking from the heart about their own experiences with adoption. There will be great entertainment and lots of laughs as well as tears.” Please visit their website for more information.

Symposium 2011: Opening Adoption-Realities, Possibilities and Challenges

afjellman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:08:58 +0000

Presenters and attendees will have opportunities to discuss, from multiple viewpoints, adoption as a lifelong process. We do not intend for this symposium to only discuss open adoption nor to only discuss adoption from a positive or negative perspective. We will have a wide range of perspectives to give a full view of the complexity of the issues and to allow attendees an opportunity to consider adoption from another perspective other than their own. Attendees are expected to be adoptees, first/birth parents, adoptive parents, adoption professionals, therapists, researchers, educators, media professionals, advocates, attorneys, policy makers and legislators. Please visit their website for more information.

Deadline for registration is September 9, 2011.

Adoption Healing Retreat in France

afjellman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:12:54 +0000

Register for a Post-Adoption Healing Retreat September 17-24, 2011 at the Chateau d’Algony in the French countryside. Enjoy this extraordinary opportunity for sharing and healing in an environment that supports and nurtures us through its ancient beauty and separateness from the rest of our busy lived. This remarkable retreat will include six days of morning and afternoon workshops exploring issues of adoption, as well as daily narrative writing, and discussion groups. Early morning yoga, meditation, walking or biking is available for those who wish. A private Reiki session is included. There will be one day set aside to enjoy a guided tour of the Loire Valley castles and a winery with group members or to have a more private adventure. Evenings will be spent with dinner on the patio and by the pool with time for discussions. There will be additional evenings of planned activities such as films and music by local musicians. Please visit their website for more information.

This Many Miles from Desire: Lee Herrick Author Reading and Open Mic Event

afjellman — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:24:09 +0000

Adoptees Have Answers (AHA), AK Connection and The Loft are pleased to invite you to an evening of poetry featuring Lee Herrick and followed by an open mic, on November 9th at 7:00 PM, at The Loft in Minneapolis. For those interested in participating in the open mic, please sign up the night of the event. You will have 3-5 minutes to read a short excerpt.

Lee Herrick was born in Daejeon, South Korea and adopted at ten months old. He is the author of This Many Miles from Desire (Word Tech Editions, 2007) and has recently completed his second book manuscript, Gardening Secrets of the Dead. His poems have been published in The Bloomsbury Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, ZYZZYVA, among others, and in anthologies such Highway 99: A Literary Journey through California’s Great Central Valley, 2nd Edition; Seeds from a Silent Tree: Writing by Korean Adoptees; and The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed. He is also the editor of New Truths: Writing in the 21st Century by Korean Adoptees. He lives in Fresno, California where he teaches at Fresno City College.

AHA Newsletter, Issue 17, September 2011

afjellman — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:13:19 +0000

In this issue:

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AHA August Webinar with Deborah Jiang Stein and Carrie Blesener
New Online Support Group
Transracial and International Group
AAABCD Group
Middle and High School Groups
Four Destinies Play
Upcoming Sun-Mee Chomet Shows
Orphan Train Riders of NY Celebration
Concerned United Birth Mothers Retreat
St. John’s University Adoption Conference
Good Grief: Symposium in Canada
Steve Jobs, Adoptee, CEO of Applie Steps Down
Amy Anderson and Modern Family TV Show
A Birth Certificate is a Factual Document
Access to Birth Certificate in Rhode Island
Guatemala Judge Orders US Family to Return Child
Guatemala Issues Decrees to Process Some Adoptions
Who Made Me Who I Am Article
The Best I Can Be Book
Mary Gauthier
Swing by Alan Gerstel
Adoption and Addiction Video
Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute New Report

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Adult Adoptees of Central MN Support Group

afjellman — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:57:16 +0000

Somewhere Between – Movie

afjellman — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:47:20 +0000

SOURCE: Twin Cities Film Fest

Director: Linda Goldstein Knowlton
94 minutes
My daughter’s name is Ruby. She is five. When my husband and I adopted her from China we had no idea what lay ahead. In an instant, we became a family. I began to think about Ruby’s future and started to wonder how her coming of age would differ from mine.
“Somewhere Between” tells the intimate stories of four teenaged girls. They live in different parts of the US, in different kinds of families and are united by one thing: all four were adopted from China, because all four had birth parents who could not keep them, due to personal circumstances colliding with China’s ‘One Child Policy’. These strong young women allow us to grasp what it is like to come-of-age in today’s America as trans-racial adoptees. At the same time, we see them as typical American teenagers doing what teenagers everywhere do…struggling to make sense of their lives. Through these young women, and their explorations of who they are, we ourselves pause to consider who we are—both as individuals and as a nation of immigrants. Identity, racism, and gender…these far-reaching issues are explored in the documentary. And with great honesty and courage, these four girls open their hearts to experience love, compassion, and self-acceptance. (Please Note: Due to its sensitive subject, this film is not recommended for ages 13 or under)

First Nations Orphan Association Pot Luck and Talking Circle

afjellman — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 19:58:41 +0000

A dinner and support group for adult adoptees and fosterees from the Native community.