Whatever Next?

If you’re adopted, you’re always an adoptee.

What does that mean to the children who were adopted? How does being an adoptee affect their journey to becoming adults?

Ask Addie, Jo, and Hannah.

No, really, they want you to ask them. Ask them ANYTHING about adoption – especially international adoption – because they want conversations about adoption to go mainstream.

The three Chinese women met in 2019. They quickly discovered each had been adopted and raised in white, western circumstances.

Addie says, “Many adoptee friends have struggled with their mental health. I’m passionate about connecting adoptees to one another and bridging conversation gaps with non-adoptees for greater awareness and better understanding.”

”Whatever Next? “ encompasses interviews, podcasts, visual art and collaborations.

Coming from the perspective of the adoptee, the women talk about racism, searching for birth history, and cross-cultural challenges. “The adoption narrative has traditionally focused on the adoptive parents’ perspectives,” says Addie. “We believe that adoptees should have access to narratives and stories similar to their own in hope of inspiring and giving solace to those a little lost. We also believe that these conversations should not be restricted to adoptees and want to make a place where questions about adoption theory, history and culture can be accessible to anyone who is the least bit curious about it.”

Our grant will help pay some of the expenses connected with the Whatever Next? website and podcast (check it out on Spotify). They’re also on Instagram.

In some circles, it’s still taboo to discuss adoption.

Hannah, Jo, and Addie are trying to make deep conversation about all things adoption absolutely irresistible.

We think that’s awesome.