Julie Ryan McGue's third book, Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood was released today, and we had the opportunity to sit down with her to talk about it. A coming-of-age memoir set in Chicago’s western suburbs in the 1960s, her book dives into the complexity of family and adoption with an unflinching point of view.

As we await the Supreme Court decision regarding ICWA, we offer a brief primer for everyone in the adoption constellation on what it is, and why it matters.

As part of our ongoing Ethics in Adoption series, we discuss the difficult history of adoption matching, and examine how the modern practice of announcing adoption matches online and in other public spaces brings with it ethical concerns.

We can’t imagine a better way to kick of Activism in Adoption in 2024 than to have Torie come and speak, as she shares preliminary insights from her research into the challenges Black adoptees face when being raised in white families, and the important changes and shifts in mentality that need to happen for adoption professionals and adoptive parents to make transracial adoption safer for racial minorities.

We read Lori Prashker-Thomas’s memoir," From Mistakes to Miracles: A Jewish Birthmother’s Story of Redemption, Hope, & Healing", and knew immediately we had to learn more. As a writer, speaker, and advocate, she has the ability to take an unflinching look at her past in a compelling and thought-provoking way as she details her journey as a Jewish birthmother and telling a story of resilience, courage, and personal growth as she found her voice and began to use it.

We were honored to host the authors of Adoption Unfiltered to the Chicagoland area in February, as part of their book tour. The recording of that panel session is now available on the Activism in Adoption website, and today we sit down with one of the authors, Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, to do a deep-dive into the incredible advocacy work she does in adoption spaces, to help foster better outcomes for everyone in the adoption constellation.

Given how critical post-placement birthparent support is for an open adoption to be successful, we have compiled a list of questions for prospective adoptive parents to ask when searching for an agency to work with. The answers to these questions can draw you a roadmap of the kinds of outcomes you might see in your own adoption, depending upon the level and duration of post-placement support your child’s birthparents receive.

The Birthparent Support Alliance launched in 2022, and we recently had the opportunity to sit down with Molly Berger, MSW, and Pam Brown, from Adoption Center of Illinois, the latest member of the Birthparent Support Alliance in 2024, to learn more about the work they do, and how Adoption Center of Illinois built their own model of adoption that moves past older of ideas of adoptions either being open or closed, and instead builds an entirely new relationship model for everyone in the adoption constellation. We also had the chance to discuss Adoption Center of Illinois’ decision to join the Birthparent Support Alliance, a program designed to help agencies provide the post-placement support birthparents need to heal and thrive.

This is Part II of our incredible interview with Dr. Gretchen Sisson, the author of the new book,Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, and our upcoming Activism in Adoption Speaker.

This week, Torie sits down with Patrick Armstrong, our upcoming Activism in Adoption speaker, to unpack the Adoptee Consciousness Model, what is was like to travel back to Korea as a Korean adoptee, and the importance of getting out of our individual adoption silos and working together in order to improve outcomes for adoptees.

After the Washington Post published a feel-good piece about adoption and baby boxes last week, our Executive Director wrote them an OpEd to set them straight on what they got wrong.

Dr. Gretchen Sisson, upcoming speaker at Activism in Adoption, discusses her new book, Relinquished, and how her decades-long research study and subsequent findings can inform our approach to adoption.

Today is Juneteenth, and while many celebrate this day with cookouts, cultural events, and family traditions, the holiday also serves as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggles for freedom, justice, and equality faced by Black Americans in the United States. Today, Torie Dimartile unpacks why it is critically important that everyone who works in adoption - including social workers, agency employees, and post-placement services - understand the historical injustices and present-day biases within the medical system that can significantly impact Black women’s reproductive choices and maternal health.

An adoptive mother talks candidly about her experiences in the past trying to complete her adoption education requirements, and why Activism in Adoption is so different with regard to how it approaches education, by platforming the voices most often silenced in adoption: birthmothers and adoptees.

Navigating open adoption can be difficult, in part because there isn’t a template to follow, or many positive examples of how to navigate the challenges in ways that lead to the best outcomes, so Mary Ellen, a birthmother, and Pauline, an adoptive mother created their own kind of open adoption - filled with trust, love, and friendship.

A brief look at gendered language in the adoption landscape, and a reminder to our community that regardless of how you identify or the pronouns you use, we are here for you.

As part of our ongoing Ethics in Adoption series, we discuss the linking adoption pricing to race, and how this sets a up adoption as a marketplace.

Dr. Abigail Hasberry, a transracially adopted person and birthmother, sat down with us today to talk about her new memoir, Adopting Privilege: A Memoir of Reinventing my Adoptee Narrative, which was released on February 18th, 2025. Through the lens of memoir, Dr. Hasberry takes a deep-dive into adoptee experience in transracial adoption, the adoption industry, and ultimately, how she found growth and healing.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Autumn Sansom, who, along with her biological mother, Jill Hawkins, Ph.D., produced the feature-length documentary, Reckoning With The Primal Wound, a film that reckons with both relinquishment trauma and the cultural phenomenon of Nancy Verrier’s landmark book, The Primal Wound. Autumn walks us through how the film came to be, taking us on a deep-dive into how she came to make the film, what surprised her afterward, and how she hopes the film can help other adopted people.

The Birthparent Support Alliance launched in 2022, and we recently had the opportunity to sit down with Steffany Aye, LSCSW, LCSW, the Founder & Executive Director of Adoption & Beyond, who joined the Birthparent Support Alliance in 2024, to learn more about the work they do, talk about common adoption misconceptions, and why adoption education is so critical for adoptive parents and hospital staff. We also had the chance to discuss Adoption & Beyond's decision to join the Birthparent Support Alliance, a program designed to help agencies provide the post-placement support birthparents need to heal and thrive.

Today we sit down with Jay Rosenzweig, the founder of BirthParentFinder.com, to learn more about how he became a specialist in birthfamily search and how his firm's unique combination of detailed research, meticulous investigation, and DNA is changing the adoption landscape, providing answers and information to both birthparents and adult adopted people.

As part of our Ethics in Adoption series, we discuss the practice of moving expectant mothers as an adoption practice, separating them from the support of their family and friends, and why that should matter to potential adoptive parents.

In celebration of Black History Month, we highlight a few of our favorite podcasters and authors, whose work sits at the intersection of race and adoption, and who provide everyone in the adoption constellation opportunities to learn and grow.

Why is it so problematic to position adoption as the opposite of abortion? Today we examine what adoption researchers and experts have to say about adoption, adoption trauma, and why comparing adoption and abortion is a false equivalency.

Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, one of the foremost experts on race in America, will be speaking at our Activism in Adoption Series this October. We took a closer look at some of the tenets of her best-selling book, "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations about Race."

A brief history of National Adoption Awareness Month: how we got here, whose voices have traditionally been missing from discussions surrounding adoption, and how a group of adoptees, led by Rosita González, began using their collective voices online to tell their stories and advocate for change.

Introducing Liz Pryor: birthmom, relationship expert, and best-selling author, Liz brings her wit and wisdom to Activism in Adoption.

When we think back to the 60s, we often think of the counterculture movement - hippies, and freelove, and equality - but in the shadows sat a different world, as unmarried pregnant women were sent off in secrecy to maternity homes, told to give birth, leave their baby behind for adoption, and forget any of it ever happened. Today we sit down with Laura Engel to talk about her book, "You'll Forget This Ever Happened: Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s" about her experiences as a teenager, shipped off to a maternity home to give birth during the Summer of Love.

Introducing Cathy Crossno, who will be addressing navigating adoption constellation relationships as a birthmother.

We were honored to host the authors of Adoption Unfiltered to the Chicagoland area in February, as part of their book tour. The recording of that panel session will be available on Activism in Adoption this month, and while we wait, we are sharing a conversation Sara Easterly, one of the book's authors had with Torie DiMartile of Wreckage and Wonder, who has lent her expertise to Activism in Adoption for 2024.

Part II of our conversation with Laura Engel to talk about her book, "You'll Forget This Ever Happened: Secrets, Shame, and Adoption in the 1960s" about her experiences as a teenager, shipped off to a maternity home to give birth during the Summer of Love. This week we talk about the burden of emotional labor, women's lack of agency in the 1960s, what it was like to stop holding this secret in and start telling the world about her experience as a pregnant teenager, and about her first-born son and their reunion after nearly 50 years apart.

As part of our ongoing Ethics in Adoption series, we discuss how recent comments left on our social media posts are problematic, and highlight the need for potential adoptive parents to understand that it is their responsibility to support ethical practices in adoption.