Birth Family Search

First Person Plural (2000)

This documentary film tells the true story of an 8-year old girl who is adopted by an American family, only to discover years later that she has a birth family in Korea. The documentary explores themes of identity, race, assimilation, and birth family reunion.

Birth Family Search

Twin Sisters (2013)

This documentary film is happy and heartwarming about twin sisters who are adopted by two separate families who find their way back to each other via social media. This movie brings up topics such as growing, learning, understanding, and identity.

Adoptee Groups

Angela Tucker

Angela Tucker is an author, a podcaster, a film producer and has gained a reputation for being a national thought leader on the intersectional topics of race, class, and identity. She was adopted from foster care to a white family, and grew up in a city that was predominantly white. She has 15+ years of working in social welfare organizations, has consulted with NBC’s This Is Us, and supported the lead actor of Broadway musical Jagged Little Pill. Her first book is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2023 (Beacon Press).

Race Education

The Guardian: “Confronting racism is not about the needs and feelings of white people”

“Short first person account by Ijeoma Oluo on how the discussion of racism needs to center around the voices of those who are marginalized. “

Race Education

The Guardian: “Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race”

“A first person account by British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge on the ways structural racism prevails today but how some white people refuse to see it. She explains why she will no longer be discussing this with people who won’t listen. The author talks about how people must first acknowledge that they benefit from structural racism and understand that color blindness is not the solution.”

Race Education

The Seattle Times: “Adoption across races: ‘I know my parents love me, but they don’t love my people’”

“Adoptee Angela Tucker discusses how she felt like a racial impostor growing up. She explains that she may have looked Black, but didn’t feel that way.”

Media

White Sugar Brown Sugar

A blog by a Christian mom about her adopted children. Although she doesn’t disclose names or faces out of respect, she describes her adoptions as domestic, transracial, and open

Media

NPR: “A Mother Reflects On Privilege, Adoption And Parenting ‘Without Perfection'”

“NPR 37 minute listen as a white mom reflects on her life raising two adopted Black children and two biological white children, and how she became aware of her own white privilege. She also has a blog called Rage Against the Minivan.”

Media

BuzzFeed News: “What A Black Woman Wishes Her Adoptive White Parents Knew”

An essay from the first person perspective of a Black transracial adoptee. The author discusses the racial dynamics in a family with transracial adoption.

Media

NPR: “Growing Up ‘White,’ Transracial Adoptee Learned To Be Black”

7 min listen and article on NPR, a Black, transracial adoptee reflects on his identity and experiences growing in life with white parents and white privilege.

Resources