TITLE: Adoptee Abolitionists

DESCRIPTION

This We the Experts features adoptees who advocate for the abolition of adoption. Google defines adoption abolitionists as, “people who advocate for a world without ‘organized abandonment’ and who analyze adoption as a system of violence, oppression, and exploitation.” 

*This definition of “organized abandonment” originated from Ruth Wilson Gilmore and was featured in an article published on PrismReports.org titled “Adoption Abolition Envisions a World Without ‘Organized Abandonment’”

Topics of discussion will include:

• As an adoptee abolitionists, do you identify with the definition above specifically the term ‘organized abandonment’? What would you add or change about that definition?

• What do you want people to know about the adoption experience? 

• How did your upbringing and knowledge of your own adoption story influence your stance as an adoptee abolitionist? 

• What is your response to people who say that it is not possible to completely abolish adoption? 

PANELISTS

Schai Schairer (she/her, they/them), LMSW, is a passionate advocate for social justice, with a focus on adoptees and formerly incarcerated women. Born in Haiti and adopted in the U.S., Schai draws from her lived experience and expertise in trauma-informed care to support marginalized communities. She is the founder of F.I.S.T. LLC and creator of the Prison to Poetry Pipeline. Schai has been recognized with numerous awards, including the 2023 Governor Wes Moore Service Award, and is committed to fostering systemic change through education, advocacy, and technology. Schai is excited to join the panel to share her unique perspective as an adoptee and to engage in meaningful conversations that empower adoptees and their families through education and community support.

Marly Osma de Forest (they/them) was adopted from Bucaramanga Colombia by a white couple from the Pacific NW who went on to transracially adopt 8 children, both domestic and intercountry. They are in reunion with their mother and brothers who now live in Bogota, Colombia and another brother who was adopted to the Eastern United States. Previously they were on the board of Adoption Mosaic (501c3) and worked on the Adoption Constellations magazine. They have worked in theater and libraries and are passionate about story telling and providing equitable access to information for all. Marly is excited to have this opportunity to spend time with other adoptees imagining more expansive holistic, and trauma-informed practices of care that do not demand severance and possession.

JinYoung Kim (she/her) is a Korean American adoptee, 360-degree filmmaker, and documentarian. Her work focuses on conservation and endangered wildlife, two fields in which people of color are historically underrepresented, and has been featured in film festivals, events, and venues across the globe. When not working with wildlife, JinYoung enjoys learning from and amplifying the voices of other adoptees, reconnecting with her birth heritage, and exploring the many facets of her identity as a Korean American woman and transracial adoptee. JinYoung is looking forward to connecting with and learning from the other members of this panel and to taking part in this discussion about adoption abolition--a topic that is largely misunderstood and dismissed.

Lina Vanegas (she/her) is a bought and sold person who was displaced from Colombia. She is a decolonial social worker who works with adopted, displaced, fostered, trafficked and stolen people. She also works with moms who have lost their children to adoption or foster care and the system, and are in various phases of fighting to get their children back. Lina is a national speaker on adoption, suicide, mental health and trauma. She is also a consultant, educator, activist and abolitionist. She is a co-host of the podcast, Rescripting The Narrative. Lina found her family in Colombia in 2014. She is proudly liberated and free from the people who bought her. She is working towards getting reparations for adopted, displaced, trafficked and stolen people with a collective. Lina is a proud single parent. She is excited to be on the panel to talk about why adoption abolition is necessary and why this movement is connected to all abolition.

Alternate Panelist - Tony Corsentino (he/his) was born and adopted in the United States in 1974. He learned his original identity when he found his birth mother in 2013, the most transformative event of his life. For the past five years Tony has been developing his perspective on adoption and its abolition through finding community on social media and through his writing at www.notalegalrecord.net. Inspired by the work of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, Tony advocates for an end to plenary adoption as we know it, and he is honored to participate in this discussion.