The GOA’L Model: How to Support Birth Family Search Overseas

By Erica Kramer, MSW | March 27, 2019

As more adoptees pursue birth family search overseas, there’s an increasing need for guidance and support when they reach their destination. GOA’L, a nonprofit that counsels and connects adoptees with their motherland in Korea, shares possible search outcomes, cultural challenges, and reunion scenarios.

Back to the Beginning

By Maya Rogers-Bursen, LMHC, Expressive Therapist | February 26, 2019

Unexpectedly, a child’s birth country visit unlocked worries and fears. BPAR clinician Maya Rogers-Bursen explores her childhood nightmares and the assumptions she was too young to articulate when her adoptive family took her and her sister to India.

Translating for Intercountry Adoptees in South Korea — My Summer Journey

By Michelle (Seungmi) Lee | January 28, 2019

Photo from my summer as a translator for adoptees in South Korea

As a translator for adoptees returning to Korea to find their birth mothers, BPAR team member Michelle (Seungmi) Lee shares the emotional moments she witnessed, their effect on her own identity, and subsequent thoughts for transracial and intercountry adoptees.

Researching Attachment: A Student’s Journey to Her Orphanage in the Philippines

By Lisa Coppola, M.Ed, LMHC | November 28, 2018

Desi studies attachment at the orphanage

As a psychology major, Desi Hartman returned to the Philippines orphanage she had left as a baby to research attachment theory in a multiple caregiver setting. In this interview, she reveals her findings, some of them surprising.

College Search for Adoptees — Tips for Parents

By Erica Kramer, MSW | October 24, 2018

The college search process can bring up unique emotions and challenges for adoptees. Here are themes parents may expect and 5 tips for how to help their child, based on our interview with Kate Peltz, Director of College Counseling.