TITLE: The Constellation: Doing the Work

DESCRIPTION:

This We the Experts panel brings together different members of the adoption constellation to explore what it means to engage deeply with adoption awareness, advocacy, and change.

Rarely do we see spaces where multiple members of the adoption constellation come together and model what it looks like to lean into adoption’s complexities beyond the dominant social narrative of the “happy adoption” story. Through an adoptee-centered lens, panelists will share how they navigate difficult truths, challenge assumptions, and work toward more ethical, informed, and compassionate practices.

“The Constellation: Doing the Work” invites us to move beyond isolated roles and toward collective responsibility, asking what becomes possible when we come together to question old narratives, expand understanding, and build something more truthful in their place.

Points to Ponder

What does “doing the work” look like from different positions within the adoption constellation, and how might our responsibilities differ depending on the roles, power, and lived experiences we hold?
How do we remain open to truths about adoption that may challenge our professional training, personal experiences, assumptions, or the narratives we have previously accepted?
What does it mean to move beyond individual awareness and good intentions toward practices, policies, and systems that prioritize family preservation, adoptee voice, accountability, and ethical change?
How can members of the adoption constellation work in relationship with one another while still honoring important differences in lived experience, impact, power, and responsibility?

PANELISTS:

Lori Holden (she/her)

When she became an adoptive parent, Lori Holden wondered what adoption felt like to others in the constellation. That curiosity led her to collaborate with others who are also curious.

With adoptee Sara Easterly and first mom Kelsey Ranyard, Lori co-authored the adoptee-led and adoptee-centered book Adoption Unfiltered. She wrote the acclaimed The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption, which is on required reading lists at agencies around the country. Lori hosted Adoption: The Long View podcast and presents about the complexities of adoption and the necessity for parents to continually do their work.

Lori lives in Denver with her husband. Their daughter and son are young adults who occasionally visit for home cooked meals and laundry facilities. She’d like to say she’s done the work required to be an adequate parent, but she finds that the more she does, the more there is to do. Find her at LavenderLuz.com.

Dr. Adam Anthony (he/him)

Dr. Adam Anthony, Ed.D., is a same-race Black adoptee leadership development consultant and speaker whose work centers identity, belonging, and the lived experiences of young male adoptees, especially those of color. Drawing from both his personal experience and professional work, he creates spaces for more honest conversations about adoption, identity, family, and the complexities that often exist beneath the surface.

Adam is the creator of They Are Not Invisible™, a framework and training experience designed to illuminate the inner world of male adoptees, exploring identity formation, belonging, silence, and the emotional experiences that often go unnamed. His work has been shared with adoption professionals, educators, families, and social work students through organizations including Metro Nashville Public Schools, Families Rising, and C.A.S.E. Adam is also currently a co-facilitator of a male adoptee support group in partnership with Adoption Mosaic.

He is honored and excited to be part of “The Constellation: Doing the Work” and to contribute an adoptee-centered perspective to a conversation about awareness, advocacy, and change. Adam believes that doing the work means being willing to sit with adoption’s complexities, challenge the narratives we have inherited, and create spaces where adoptee voices are not simply included, but seen, supported, and empowered.

Denise Schnelle (she/her)

Denise Schnelle is a Birthmother who relinquished her son for adoption in 1988. When she reunited with him at 18, she found herself overwhelmed with delayed grief and sought help from Concerned United Birthparents (CUB) and became a member. Since that time she has been on the Board of Directors twice and is now the President Elect. She has also facilitated the monthly Los Angeles in-person CUB Support Group for over a decade. Denise is excited to be on the “Doing The Work” panel, as that's what CUB is all about; doing the work of healing, along with the work of unsealing Original Birth Certificates and preventing unnecessary infant adoptions.

Madeleine Melamed (she/her)

Madeleine Melamed is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Art Therapist based in Washington state. She is a transracial adoptee adopted from birth in California. Passionate about serving the adoption community, she dedicated her education and career to supporting fellow adoptees. She owns a private practice, Dovetale Integrative Adoption Therapy, where she provides adoption competent therapy, adoptive parent coaching, and an Art Therapy adoptee support group. She understands the unique challenges and experiences adoptees face. Madeleine believes in the healing capabilities of art as it helped her process and express her adoptee experience. In her therapeutic work, she is committed to creating a safe space where adoptees can explore their emotions, build healthy communication skills, and feel empowered in their growth and healing.

Madeleine is excited to be a part of this panel as she wants to lend her adoptee voice to educate, advocate, and discuss the complexities of adoption.

Stormey Nielsen - Support Panelist

Stormey Nielsen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and transracial adoptee. She was adopted as a baby and raised in a home with five other transracial adoptee siblings. In 2019 Stormey entered into reunion with her biological family and continues to see them annually in the summer months.

Stormey works in private practice at her agency, Focal Point. She also provides therapeutic adoption consulting and finds herself in various community spaces to support Black mental health as well as Black youth. When she’s not working, she enjoys traveling, watching television, and eating out with friends.

Stormey‘s life experiences led her toward social work and her education toward therapy. The combination of the two led to her niche clientele of transracial adoptees and their families. Not only her lived experience, but her clinical experience and advocacy bring her here today.