The Transnational / Transcultural Adoption Project: A collective transnational adoption history

Transnational adoption is a story of migration, diasporas, wars, natural disasters, politics, and kinship across geographic and national borders. Since the 1940s the story of transnational adoption has been framed from the perspective of those who see themselves as rescuing children – adoptive parents, child welfare organizations, and policy makers.

Transnational adoptees have been sharing their perspectives for decades through essays, films, books, blogs, social media, journalism, workshops and trainings, art, and podcasts. We have become researchers, policy makers, parents and grandparents, historians, artists, educators, and innovators. And some of us have shared our story in more intimate spheres – with friends, family, and colleagues.

The goal of the TTAP is to bring together as many of our voices as possible. TTAP is a community-generated, collective history.

We are reclaiming our history, together.

---

This project was created by JaeRan Kim. JaeRan was born in South Korea in 1968 and adopted to the United States in 1971. She has worked in foster care/adoption (both public and private), with at-risk young moms, and with adults with disabilities in residential care. Jae Ran completed her PhD in Social Work at the University of Minnesota and is currently Associate Professor at the School of Social Work and Criminal Justice at the University of Washington – Tacoma. Her scholarship focuses on adoption, child welfare systems, and persons with disabilities. JaeRan’s blog, Harlow’s Monkey, was created in 2006.