Founder

Adoptees Connect is founded by Pamela Karanova of Lexington, KY. Although Pamela is an Iowa native, she moved to Lexington, KY when she was 17 years old and considers it to be her home.

Pamela believes the complexities from being adopted are those that can only be understood by another adoptee and that adoptees hold the most valuable perspective in the adoption equation.

Pamela has 3 adult children and receives more joy than anyone could imagine from being the mom to these amazing individuals. She’s a full time Caregiver/Team Leader in the home health field and works PT in the hotel/hospitality industry. She loves what she does and considers herself blessed to be a blessing. She loves the simple things in life-hot tea, coffee, sunrises, sunsets, and bonfires. She loves hiking and chasing waterfalls and she finds much peace and joy in nature.

Over her lifetime, Pamela has navigated her own search and reunion for her maternal and paternal birth families and has a wealth of resources to share with her fellow adoptees. She has a passion for connecting with other adoptees all over the world so that they know they aren’t alone. Although most of her connections have been made online, she’s had it on her heart for years to put her dream into action in her community by creating a safe space for adult adoptees where they can connect in real life.

After searching for years for her own “safe space” to share her adoptee feelings and experiences, she ultimately found that Lexington, KY has no Adult Adoptee Connect Groups. This leaves Adult Adoptees in this area to navigate their journey alone. The aloneness many adoptees feel is radiated by an overall lack of knowledge and/or understanding within professional communities- psychiatrists, therapists, and adoption specialists alike.

It’s simple-no one knows how it feels to be adopted unless they are an adoptee themselves.

Many adoptees can experience lifelong complicated feelings of grief, loss, abandonment and rejection that carry over into their adult lives. C-PTSD is very common among adult adoptees, as well as many lifelong complications stemming directly from being separated from our birth mothers- otherwise known as the “The Primal Wound”.

Pamela feels it’s critical for an adoptees health and happiness to be able to share their stories with the comfort of knowing that  they won’t be silenced, judged or alone.

Pamela has years of support group leadership experience being the Group Leader for Women’s Chemical Dependency for Celebrate Recovery in Lexington, KY. Her best source of experience has been living as an adult adoptee and navigating her own experiences for 43 years. She shares her adoption journey at Pamela Karanova. She’s very transparent about sharing her heart regarding her adoption experience. 

There’s power in numbers and community. Statistics show that Adoptees are 4x more likely to attempt Suicide than non-adoptees and that prisons, jails, mental health facilities and treatment facilities are overrepresented with adoptees. Considering these alarming statistics, Pamela began to put her longtime dream of creating a safe space for adoptees in her community into action.

Pamela’s vision didn’t stop there. She decided if she was going to bring her vision to life for her community, she wanted to extend the same privilege to all her fellow adoptee communities as well. After spending many years of networking with adult adoptees all over the world, Pamela decided to start a national movement by planting these Adoptees Connect groups, which has now expanded internationally. In just two short years, 45 connect groups have been planted in 43 cities and 27 states. These groups are focused on being a safe place for adult adoptees to come and share their hearts regarding their adoption journeys. They can express how adoption has impacted them and network and connect with other adult adoptees. We understand the importance of the common bond we share as adoptees and hope that through these groups, lifelong relationships can be built. 

Pamela is the 2019 winner of the “Angel in Adoption” award on behalf of Indiana Adoptee Network for her role in the adoption community.

Adoptees Connect Groups are giving HOPE, when many adoptees have lived a life that feels hopeless.

To learn more about Pamela click Here.

Adoptees Connect – Lexington, KY launched in January 2018.

Many more Adoptees Connect Groups are being planted all over the USA and beyond, with 1 in Canada.

Find our updated group listing Here.

If you would like to start your own Adoptees Connect in your city visit our Volunteer Application tab here. 

 Help Support the Growth of our Growing Network!

Adoptees Connect Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity. Donations to Adoptees Connect are tax deductible as allowed by law. Please consult your tax advisor regarding deductibility. EIN: 83-1862971. Thank you for your generosity in helping our vision move forward.