Search and Reunion in Adoption

Please find some of our best articles, essays and reviews on this topic.

For more topics and articles, check out our full listing on our Resource Library.

In closed adoptions, both domestic and international, adoptees and parents have questions about birth family that sometimes result in the decision to search for them. Even in adoptions that begin with openness, family members lose touch or struggle to remain connected. Many stories of search and reunion are included in these articles, along with advice for how to search and when, including answers to questions like who should be in charge and how to manage reunion aftermath for adults and children.

If you prefer, you can use our Library Search Tool to search by title or author. All the material in this section is copyrighted by Pact; for permission to reproduce or re-post it, please contact us at education@pactadopt.org.

• "Don’t You Dare Repeat Any of This" Thoughts of Adoption By An Adoptee-By-The-Sea
  by Joyce Maguire Pavao (1997 | 328 KB | )
  
• Adoption and Genetics: Why We Need To Pay Attention
  by E. Kay Trimberger (2011 | 125 KB | )
  
• Adoption Loss: A Birth Mother Remembers
  by Debra Baker (2011 | 112 KB | )
  
• Adoption Milestones
  by Susan Soon-keum Cox (2000 | 69 KB | )
  
• All This Time
  by Paul Kamm & Eleanor MacDonald (2009 | 319 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact Is There Something Wrong With Me?
  by Pact (2010 | 327 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Is Our 12-Year-Old Too Young To Find Her Birth Mother?
  by Pact (2007 | 116 KB | )
  
• Ask Pact: Unexpected Birth Parent Contact
  by Pact (2008 | 121 KB | )
  
• Bastard Nation - What’s In a Name
  by Damsel Plum (1998 | 121 KB | )
  
• Birth Father Story
  by Paul Weber (2919 | 139 KB | )
  
• Birth Parent Loss and Grief
  by Patricia E. Roles (1997 | 115 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Beneath the Mask Understanding Adopted Teens
  by Debbie Riley (2007 | 84 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Daughter of the Ganges
  by Asha Miro (2008 | 434 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Lucky Girl
  by Mei-Ling Hopgood (2010 | 183 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Pieces of Me: Who Do I Want to Be?
  by Robert Ballard (2010 | 210 KB | )
  
• Book Review: The Colours in Me: Writing & Poetry by Adopted Children & Youth
  Edited by Perlita Harris (2009 | 412 KB | )
  
• Book Review: The English American
  by Alison Larkin (2008 | 304 KB | )
  
• Book Review: Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
  by Sherri Eldridge (2005 | 104 KB | )
  
• Borders of Belonging
  by Sofia Arroyo (2008 | 309 KB | )
  
• Coming Full Circle, Becoming a Parent
  by Hollee McGinnis (aka Lee Hwa Yeong) (2009 | 114 KB | )
  
• Considering Placing a Child for Adoption: Thank You for Listening & Thoughts on Birth Motherhood
  by Susan Ledesma & Joy Retzlaff (2010 | 310 KB | )
  
• Fostering the Autonomy of the Adopted Person
  by Susan Harris (1995 | 317 KB | )
  
• Hambun-Hambun
  by Susan Ito (1995 | 339 KB | )
  
• How Adoption Has Shaped My Life
  by Joyce Maguire Pavao (1994 | 335 KB | )
  
• I Never Thought of It Before - I Was Someone Else Before I Was Me
  by Lori Clemmons (1997 | 112 KB | )
  
• Lessons
  by Sharon Kaplan Roszia (1994 | 311 KB | )
  
• My Crooked Family Tree
  by Lynn Calza (2007 | 105 KB | )
  
• My Dog Story
  by Penny Callan Partridge (1997 | 301 KB | )
  
• Pact’s Perspective on Therapy and Adoption
  by Jeannie Lin in collaboration with Pact staff (2004 | 340 KB | )
  
• Promoting Understanding of Adoption Issues
  by Patricia Irwin Johnston (1993 | 337 KB | )
  
• Question and Answer with Adam Pertman
  (2011 | 127 KB | )
  
• So You Want To Open Your Child’s Adoption
  by Leslie Foge (2004 | 332 KB | )
  
• Stepping Out of the Shadows: Birth Fathers Speak Out
  by Mary Martin Mason (1995 | 330 KB | )
  
• Synchronicity: The Sparks of Reunion
  by LaVonne Stiffler (1997 | 336 KB | )
  
• Talking to Your Adopted Adolescent about Adoption
  by Randolph W. Severson (1995 | 334 KB | )
  
• Teen Corner: A Letter From My Heart
  by Melissa Cunningham (2010 | 327 KB | )
  
• Teen Corner: Mission Possible
  by Rabia Cons (2008 | 83 KB | )
  
• Teen Corner: Picture Me
  by Sofia Arroyo (2005 | 72 KB | )
  
• That Time of Year
  by Penny Callan Partride (1998 | 306 KB | )
  
• The Lifelong Impact of Adoption
  by Marlou Russell (1995 | 309 KB | )
  
• Twice a Mother - Unexpected Paths
  by Rachel Angeline (1997 | 109 KB | )
  
• Two Stories of Reunion
  A Review by Susan Ito (2011 | 122 KB | )
  
• Whose Birth Certificate is it Anyway?
  by Pam Hasegawa (1997 | 331 KB | )
  

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