What is Adoptee Remembrance Day?
Adoptee Remembrance Day – October 30th serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of crimes against adoptees by adoptive parents, an action that current media does not recognize. It also allows us to publicly mourn and honor the lives of our brothers and sisters who we have lost who might otherwise be forgotten. It raises awareness about adoptee suicide, shining a light on a difficult topic. Through these actions, we express love and respect for the adoptee community. Adoptee Remembrance Day reminds others that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends, and lovers. Adoptee Remembrance Day gives our allies a chance to step forward with us, memorializing those who have died too soon, and it also recognizing the loss all adopted people experience, before they’re actually adopted.
While this topic remains sensitive in nature, adoptees who are murdered by their adoptive parents is increasing around the world. It is a time to honor their legacy by setting aside a day just for them. While those who have passed away before us, are no longer able to speak and share their stories or voices, there are many adoptees today who are paving the way for the voiceless to become strong enough to share their voices and stories. We are the voice of the voiceless.
We also recognize that there are international adoptees who are living without citizenship and/or have been deported due to mistakes by adoptive parents, adoption agencies, attorneys, and ultimately, the U.S. adoption system. Some international adoptees must survive abuse and neglect, including in regards to their citizenship, from their adoptive parents. We honor the adoptees who did not survive or are struggling to survive their deportations to countries they left as children where they have no support network and limited access to support services, including mental health care, clothing, food and shelter. Lack of citizenship is a tragic and often unacknowledged issue facing the adoptee community. Please visit Adoptees for Justice to learn more.
This is what Adoptee Remembrance Day is all about.
You might be an adoptee, an adoptive parent, a biological parent, a friend, or a sibling of an adoptee? Whatever side of the constellation you are on, you are invited to participate in Adoptee Remembrance Day. Together, we are creating Adoptee Remembrance Day – October 30th to highlight much needed topics. We hope it will ignite conversations of awareness of the adoptee experience by those who have lived it, the adoptees.
We aim to spark conversations about the adoptees that did not make it. What about all the memories lost, never to be found? What about the adoptees that have not found a community of their own? What about those who have not made it to the other side of healing? What if healing is not possible? What if you lost an adoptee? Does grieving last forever?
While our aim is to lift the legacy of those who are no longer with us, we are also wanting to share the truth of how adoption has impacted each of us. We are opening October 30th up to be our day of truth, transparency, and remembrance for adoptees all over the world. We are also remembering the heartbreaking loss that all adoptees experience, which deserves to be acknowledged. We must acknowledge that all adoptions begin with extremely complex multi layered loss FIRST.
Let us also include this day is for the families and friends who have lost a loved one to adoption. Maybe you have been searching for them, but you cannot find them? Maybe you had an open adoption and it was suddenly closed? Maybe you are a birth parent who lost a child to adoption. We see you. This day is for you too.
Things you can do to for Adoptee Remembrance Day
Wear YELLOW – We’re dedicating the color YELLOW to this day as a way to honor those adoptees we’ve lost. Please consider wearing yellow to honor them. Spark conversations why you are wearing yellow in your workplace, home and among friends & family.
Use Hashtags – We’re using hashtag #adopteesconnect #adopteeremembranceday and #adopteesweremember #ard2020 so please share all photos, articles, poems, online using this hashtag so we can share with our community.
Read Adoptee Books – Read adoptee centric books, The Adoptee Survival Guide: Adoptees Share Their Wisdom and Tools, Parallel Universes: The Story of Rebirth, You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are: An Adoptee’s Journey Through The American Adoption Experience You can find a comprehensive list of adoptee centric books at Adoptee Reading. Share which book you are reading on October 30th.
A Moment of Silence – Pause for 4 minutes of silence to reflect, honor and remember our fellow adoptees who didn’t survive adoption at 12:00PM EST on October 30th.(Adoptees are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than non-adopted individuals)
Keep Memories Alive – Keep memories alive & write a paragraph, poem, art or short story with a photo and tribute about the special adoptee you know that didn’t survive adoption, or an adoptee who’s incarcerated. Paint a memory rock, decorating it with your loved ones name, favorite thing or quote. Tag us on our Facebook October 30th in their honor.
Wear A Yellow Flower – Wear a yellow flower and spark conversations of what the yellow flower represents in your work, home and with friends & family.
Share A Tribute – Share a paragraph with your photo if you’re an adoptee who would like to share a tribute to honor the lost adoptees, and/or all you have lost in adoption. Tag our Facebook page.
Have A Ceremonial Bonfire- Gather in person with others who support Adoptee Remembrance Day and at dusk light a bonfire in memory of the lost adoptees, and all that’s lost in adoption. Everyone can receive a piece of paper on which to write the message they would like to share. They can read them together, or keep them private. Then they can take turns placing their messages into the fire. As the notes burn, the rising flames and the sparks spiraling upward will offer the effects of sending the messages to the heavens.
Events – Schedule and dedicate an event on Facebook for a walk, hike, dinner, lunch, sit in the park for October 30th in your community or with your Adoptees Connect group or others as a way to honor those who didn’t survive adoption and to recognize adoption loss. Do you have a special place or a reminder of someone you lost to adoption? Visit this place and set aside some time to remember your loved one. Be sure to tag our official Adoptee Remembrance Day – Oct 30th page on Facebook, as well as post your events in our events on our Facebook page.
Order A T-Shirt or Hoodie – Wear our exclusive T-Shirts or Hoodies dedicate to this significant day and take photos and share them with us. Wear them leading up to October 30th so you can be a walking billboard for this day. We’re the only ones that will get the word out about the significance of this day, so use this as an opportunity to spark conversations. You can find these items available at www.adopteemerch.com with 100% of the proceeds going directly towards our Adoptees Connect Scholarship Fund. This fund helps adoptees receive a scholarship to be able to receive the materials they need to plant an Adoptees Connect group in their area. We have a growing list of individuals who need scholarships and sponsors. The more groups we plant, the more adoptees will have a safe space to share their journeys. Learn more: Sponsor Program. If we see a need for youth & kid sizes, let us know! We will consider adding them to our website. If you can get the whole family involved, that will raise more awareness. Now through October 30, 2020 we are extending a 20% discount on all Adoptee Remembrance Day merchandise. (Has to have Adoptee Remembrance Day on it.) Use coupon code “ADOPTEEREMEMBRANCEDAY2021” at checkout.
Tribute Donations – Make a tribute donation or start a fundraiser to Adoptees Connect, Inc. to honor the memory of a loved one who didn’t survive adoption. The more in person groups we plant, the less isolation and loneliness adoptees will feel which are directly impacting adoptees all over the world.
Make A Meme – Make a viral memorial meme in honor of any adoptees that didn’t survive adoption. Share it on October 30th in their memory. Tag our Facebook page.
Listen to Adoptee Centric Music – Our friend & fellow adoptee, Anne Heffron has given us permission to share her comprehensive list of adoptee centric music that was created by and for adoptees. To listen visit her Spotify list go here – You Don’t Look Adopted.
Write a Song – Write and record a song dedicated to the remembrance of the adoptees that didn’t survive adoption and the adoptee loss experience. Tag our Facebook page.
Write an Article – Consider writing an article about adoptees who didn’t survive adoption or those who died at the hands of their adopters. How has this impacted you and the world of adoption? Tag us, we will share it on our Facebook page on October 30th.
Candle-lite Remembrance – Shine a light or a candle at 9:00PM EST on October 30th which we feel would be a powerful way to remember adoptees who didn’t survive adoption and to recognize adoption begins with loss. When multiple people are involved in the lighting it can be a powerful recognition but being alone works just as well. Tag us so we can share.
Living Reminders – Create a living reminder like planting a flower, a tree or an entire garden in memory of adoptees who didn’t survive adoption and acknowledging loss in adoption. Pick up some yellow flowers from the store.
Memorial Video – Create a memorial video dedicated to all of our lost brothers and sisters in adoption sharing your voice advocating for change in adoption policies and practices today. Tag us so we can share.
Blow Bubbles – Instead of release balloons, blow bubbles. One person blowing bubbles is fun, but get a group together all blowing bubbles, and you can create a magical experience. For even more impact, add a few giant bubble wands to the mix.
Float flowers – Choose locally-grown flowers rather than imported ones. Friends & Family can drop the flowers into the water from the shore or from a boat in memory and remembrance of adoptee loss & suicide. Add an extra layer of meaning by writing notes to our loved ones, on quick- dissolve paper (such as rice paper) and releasing the notes into the water along with the flowers. They’ll float along for a bit before harmlessly dissolving. To be truly Eco-friendly, you should use fully biodegradable ink, such as an ink made from algae, to write the messages.
Write in the Sand – Take a stick and write in the wet sand on the shore of a lake, river or ocean. This can be a prat of a larger remembrance service, or private. Anyone that attends can write their words of love to the departed and all that’s lost in adoption. The waves will wash them away, symbolically sending the message along.
Be Creative – Start a new tradition on October 30th for Adoptee Remembrance Day. Express how you have been advocating for change in adoption by sharing your voice on how adoption has impacted you. Share why this day is important to you. Encourage friends, family and loved ones to do the same.
Alone Time – Have a moment of alone time which can signify for you a special moment of recognizing adoptee loss.
Family Friendly – Make it a family affair. Explain the importance of recognizing this day and honor it and remember it with your family.
Spread the Word – Invite as many people as possible to follow our Facebook page and share our events inviting everyone you know. The more people that learn about this day, the more will begin to recognize the many layers of adoption that are unrecognized by society as a whole.
RSVP to our Facebook event if you plan on participating to Adoptee Remembrance Day.
Don’t forget to invite your friends & family.
Please don’t release balloons into the environment. Click here to learn why this is terrible for our environment. We have plenty of Eco-friendly options listed here. Please choose them over polluting the environment.
There’s no rule that says you can only remember or memorialize someone or something in one way. Feel free to use multiple suggestions above as you see fit or create something new.
A few things to remember:
- You don’t have to be adopted to recognize Adoptee Remembrance Day. We recognize that many people are impacted by adoption each year. We encourage you to get involved no matter which part of the adoption constellation you might or might not be a part of. Your support means everything to the adoptee community.
- We have a main Facebook page for this day, and we have Instagram. We are not setting up a Twitte.. Our main Adoptee Remembrance Day page will be sharing all posts we are tagged in, so make sure to tag us on October 30th. We will also share as many posts that use hashtags #adopteeremembranceday, #ard, #ard2021 #adopteesweremember as well as share as many as possible on our Adoptees Connect, Inc. Instagram & Twitter.
- Please be patient with correspondence as we’re 100% volunteer ran and most of us have full time jobs.
- If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please do so by October 1st, 2021. We’re extending a 20% discount on all purchases on the Adoptee Remembrance Day swag at http://www.adopteemerch.com. Use code “ADOPTEEREMEMBRANCEDAY2021” at checkout.
- Please direct all correspondence regarding Adoptee Remembrance Day to email: adopteerememberanceday@gmail.com and NOT our Adoptees Connect, Inc. email. Separating the two causes will be critical to the productivity of Oct 30th.
Thank you for your support and understanding in these matters.
PLEASE RSVP TO OUR EVENT ON FACEBOOK.
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. THAT ONE INVITE COULD CHANGE SOMEONES LIFE FOREVER.
Adoptees Connect, Inc.
Where Adoptee Voices Meet 