This session explores how adopted boys—particularly Black adopted boys—are often rendered invisible when adoption is understood as an endpoint rather than a lifelong experience. While stability and love are essential, they do not automatically address the layered identity, emotional, and belonging needs adopted boys carry as they grow into adolescence and adulthood.

Drawing from his lived experience as a same-race Black adoptee, his professional work in mentorship and leadership development, and research insights from his doctoral dissertation on identity and support systems, Dr. Anthony expands the 'They Are Not Invisible' framework. This framework names the subtle but significant ways adopted boys’ needs go unrecognized, especially when they appear “well-adjusted” or are raised in stable, loving homes.

Participants will be invited to reframe support as an ongoing practice—one that centers curiosity, lived experience, and intentional connection—and will leave with concrete ways to better affirm adopted boys’ identities, strengthen their sense of belonging, and support their long-term well-being.

This talk explores the lived experiences of adopted people who navigate multiple marginalized identities, focusing on Black and queer adopted people. It examines how intersecting identities shape mental well-being, relationships, and the sense of belonging, and highlights the unique challenges and resilience of adopted people living at these intersections. Attendees will gain insight into how adoption professionals and parents can better understand, support, and advocate for adopted people whose identities exist at the crossroads of race, sexuality, and adoption.