November is National Adoption Awareness Month

The origins of National Adoption Awareness Month, also known as National Adoption Month, can be traced back to a week-long event held in Massachusetts in 1976. In 1995, Bill Clinton expanded the week-long National Adoption Awareness event to a month-long celebration — mostly in response to the increasing number of children in foster care and the need for adoptive families. This is why, in the past, Adoption Awareness Month has centered on the experiences and voices of prospective adopting families or families that have adopted for the purposes of recruiting more adoptive families.

More recently, adoptees have been reclaiming National Adoption Awareness Month to encompass a more holistic view of adoption, which includes the voices and stories of adoptees. Often, this means bringing forth the abuses of the adoption industry or lived experiences of adoptees, whether trying to gain access to records or experiencing racial injustice as a person of color in America.

We hope that one day, everyone's view of adoption will center on and align with what's best for the adoptee. This month and every month, if you are an ally or simply know an adoptee, think about listening to and elevating the voices of adoptees in your life. If you are an adoptee, consider speaking your truth, although we emphasize that it is not on the adoptee to educate the people around them or share information they may be uncomfortable sharing.