TITLE: Adoptees & Divorce

DESCRIPTION

Divorce is a difficult experience for anyone and yet is prevalent in almost half of all marriages. For those of us who are adopted/relinquished, the topic of family and relationships is already so complex.This We the Experts panel speaker series highlights the voices of adoptees who have experienced divorce and the nuance of that this intersectionality. 

• What are the effects of experiencing divorce as an adoptee? 

• How did your identity as an adoptee impact the way you viewed divorce? 

• How did the experience shape you into the person you are today?

• How has your experience with divorce influenced your approach to relationships now?

PANELISTS

Katie Gagel (she/her) is a speaker, podcast co-host, and dog-mom. She focuses on curating spaces for adoptees, virtually and in-person and shares vignettes of her story as a Korean adoptee. She openly discusses personal mental health, trauma, and what it means to be an adoptee in hopes other adoptees feel less alone. Katie is the founder of Asian Adoptees of Louisville in Kentucky and co-host to a brand new adoptee podcast called Adopting Wellness (launching February 2023!), where the focus will be on wellness, health, and healing as an adoptee. She also serves on the Board of Directors at Asia-Institute Crane House. Katie is excited to be a part of this panel because divorce in the adoptee community is not a topic easily or openly talked about. She hopes adoptees will join (and loved ones to adoptees) to connect, feel seen, and understand the complexity of why divorce is deeply layered from the adoptee perspective.

Keturah Wik (she/her) is a multi-ethnic, transracial adoptee living in the Pacific Northwest. She grew up in Washington state for most of her life and now blogs about adoption literature through the site: The Adoptee Reads. Keturah currently works as a volunteer for the Adoptee Mentoring Society, as well as using her social media platform to advocate for adoptee and foster children rights. Keturah hopes that by sharing her experiences as a divorcee and an adoptee it will help other adoptees who have gone or are going through the same process feel seen and validated in their experiences.

Keith Sciarillo (he/him) is a late discovery and transracial adoptee currently working full time in the accounting field. He was born in New York City in 1979 and adopted to a family in NY. He has a total of 15 siblings between his adoptive and biological families. Keith has done numerous interviews on podcasts, in newspapers, and has participated on in-person and online panels. Keith is also a part of the Emerging Leaders Advisory Counsel with C.A.S.E. (Center for Adoption Support and Education). Connecting with others in the adoption community has been what Keith considers his greatest purpose in life besides being a loving father to his two teenage children. Keith wanted to be on this panel in order to share about his experiences after divorce.

Diego Vitelli (he/him), an adoptee from Colombia, knows little about his early days prior to being adopted at approximately 4 years of age to a family outside of Boston. His passion is supporting the adoptee community and does so through his work as a private practice therapist doing adoptee-focused therapy. Diego has also volunteered in many areas including coaching youth sports, as a mentor to adoptees at Amara in Seattle, his local school district, and independently. He is a facilitator for the local Adoptees Connect - Seattle group and co-administers a FB group of 2k+ Colombian adoptees.

Alternate Panelist, Suzanne Bachner (she/her) - Alternate is a domestic same-race pre-Roe adoptee born, raised and adopted in NYC through Louise Wise Services. An award-winning playwright and director, Suzanne creates theater about adoption (Birthday), divorce (Conversations with My Divorce Attorney) and both (Brilliant Mistake). Her acclaimed show The Good Adoptee has toured to the London International Fringe Festival, across the U.S. and reached global audiences in its virtual presentations, all in support of Adoptee Rights. Suzanne is excited to support the kind of in-depth exploration in community that this challenging, painful, and rare topic deserves and that We The Experts always delivers.