Meeting Foster Families & Other Caregivers

Meeting foster families and other caregivers is often one of the most meaningful parts of your birth country journey. It is often a time filled with both anxiety and excitement. What will you say? What will you learn? What if there are awkward silences? Will she remember me? I want to tell her about my life and show her some … Read More

Belonging & Birth Country Travel

Belonging. It’s a basic human need. We all crave it, and many kids find it among their peers as they visit their birth country. Remember Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs theory? If you’re a little rusty on that, here are the Cliff Notes. Maslow held that people must have basic needs like food, water, safety, BELONGING and self esteem met … Read More

Birth Country Travel: Language & Identity

Birth Country Travel: Language & Identity This is part 3 in a series on international adoption and identity. For most kids on a homeland journey, language and the ability to communicate is an immediate piece of how they see themselves. Very few are able to speak in their birth language. As a result, their first interaction with people in their … Read More

Identity & Birth Country Travel: Upon Arrival

Identity is a continuum. Who I am today is not who I will be tomorrow. For tomorrow I will be a culmination of who I have been in all my “yesterdays” and who I hope to be in my “tomorrows.” This is part 2 in a series on identity and international adoption. Birth Country Travel: Upon Arrival Creating a New … Read More