Voices Unheard: Real Adoptee Stories
From 2019 to 2024, BPAR hosted five Voices Unheard: Real Adoptee Stories events, public forums of storytelling by adult adoptees and those relinquished or removed from their biological families. We developed the forum because of our deep belief in the value of community and creative expression for adult adoptees. So often the adoption narratives we hear are created by those who have not experienced relinquishment and the resulting stories are simplified, and adoptee losses are often minimized.
All speakers at these events participated because they made a brave decision to share their experiences with the community. We are thrilled that our 2024 event was filmed by a professional videographer! We have posted the videos below. You will see that the emotionality in the room that night was palatable. A diverse crowd of adoptees and loved ones were there to connect, witness and understand. The night truly illustrated the healing power of storytelling and empathy. It is our hope for those who are not adopted themselves to listen open-heartedly and with curiosity to others who have walked a different path than themselves.
Introduction to Voices Unheard: Real Adoptee Stories Forum, November 19, 2024
Voices Unheard program director Lisa ‘LC” Coppola, LMHC, an adoptee,
discusses what is "adoption fog?" and talks about the pros of discomfort,
and how loved ones can best support adoptees.
Adoptee Stories
at Voices Unheard 2024
Zosia
Zosia describes her reunion with her birth family, and a lifetime spent contemplating the world through the lens of an adoptee in her piece, "Hidden in the Reeds."
Terry
Terry reflects on being understood, being a lover, and being loved as an adoptee.
Laura
Laura talks about the joy of finding connection in a sea of white in her piece “Fellow Latina.”
Katie
Katie reads her poem, “On July 7th,” in which she candidly explores her deep curiosity about her biological mother.
Wendy Kathleen Janet
Wendy Kathleen Janet talks about coming to terms with being a late discovery adoptee.
Hope
Hope shares their poem “flesh.”
Alett
Alett shares why real-life birth family reunion is not an after-school special.
Greg
Whatever I do, wherever I go, I'm adopted. Greg talks about the lifelong journey.
Roberta
Roberta reads her piece “Love and Napalm” and ponders why she might function best in a crisis.
Mimiges
Mimiges reads about the love she felt from her birth father and feeling like she was born to miss people.
Aimee
Aimee reads her essay "Carapace," on her adoptee heart and feeling her mother’s love.
Bruce
Bruce talks about adoptee healing work, and being able to feel a universal source of infinite love.
Evening Wrap-Up
Adoptee Resources and Support: Evening Wrap-Up
Brendon Albrizio, Board Chair at Boston Post Adoption Resources (BPAR), shares the mission of BPAR and how BPAR uplifts adoptee voices and provides support and education.
The Full Voices Unheard Video
If you prefer to watch all speakers at once and experience Voices Unheard: Real Adoptee Stories the way the live audience did, you may watch the full video here.
OUR VOICES UNHEARD JOURNAL IS AVAILABLE WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD!
Voices Unheard: A Reflective Journal for Adult Adoptees
Written by BPAR clinician Lisa Coppola, LMHC
Cover artwork by Kelly DiBenedetto (BPAR's Executive Director) and Albie DiBenedetto
“This guided journal is long overdue. It offers an adoptee the opportunity to carefully examine their perspectives and feelings about their life and to clarify what is truth.”
—Sharon Kaplan Roszia, co-author of Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Comprehensive Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption, Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third-Party Reproduction