This is day 5 of National Adoption Awareness Month, so this is my daily post to amplify the voices of adoptees.
Inter Country Adoptee Voices (ICAV) was created by and for adoptees all around the world. Based in Australia, ICAV is adoptee-led and adoptee-focused. The site includes an impressive list of adoptee-led groups in multiple countries, as well as groups focused specifically on adoptees from various countries/continents (Bangladesh to Vietnam).
ICAV also maintains a list of adoptee academics with links to their research, as well as a Memorial page for adoptees who have died by suicide or at the hands of their adoptive parents. There are links to blog posts about mental health and other issues. There is a substantive list of post-adoption services provided by adoptees around the globe.
ICAV has a public Facebook page, as well as a private Facebook group for intercountry and transracial adoptees.
I have known Lynelle Long, ICAV’s founder, for a while, and I know she is rightly proud of ICAV’s recent Educational Video Resource Project. I’ve watched several of the videos, which feature a variety of Australian adult intercountry adoptees speaking out about trauma, racism, and other adoption issues. Professionals such as doctors, teachers, and counsellors/therapists are among the intended audience; please share this resource with them.That said, all of us in the adoption community can benefit from the videos.