The Very Asian Foundation (VAF) issues guidance on covering transracial adoptees, birth search, and belonging following the release of the summer hit Joy Ride
With the release of the film Joy Ride, the success of Everything Everywhere All At Once, the history made five years ago with Crazy Rich Asians, and the celebration of the 30th anniversary of The Joy Luck Club, Asian Americans are seeing more celebrated coverage of a wide range of lived experiences.
A cohort of adoptees working as journalists, therapists, actors, adoption experts, and influencers are offering guidance on how to properly represent Asian American, transracial adoptees and their communities in the media. Though the practice of adopting Asian-born children began in the US during the Korean War, efforts to eradicate problematic language have not been widely received in media and newsrooms decades later.
The purpose of this material is to serve as a guide based on personal narratives and well-known practices. This group came together under the coordination of The Very Asian Foundation, a journalist-founded nonprofit. This group does not claim to be experts – only practitioners of diversity and inclusion as it relates to their voices. This group also realizes that more representation is needed and welcomed in this guide and that each adoption story is unique and nuanced.
Terminology/Coverage (see community guide)
Avoid using words like “real” or “natural” parents to describe birth, first, or biological family
Avoid using phrases to describe “making contact with” birth family when it comes to “reunion”
Avoid words like “given up” to describe a child being “relinquished” – birth parents can make adoption plans for their children.
Avoid using words like “track down” when adoptees do a “search”
Avoid assumptions involved with involuntary termination of parental rights. This term does not actively recognize institutional barriers that prevent families from staying intact.
Sources
We encourage exploring narratives of adoption that are not dominantly represented. Avoid solely amplifying “grateful” adoptees and heartwarming adoption stories.
Avoid industry sources that may not prioritize adoptee and birth parent rights and mental health. Adoption institutions work to promote their view of adoption language which increases reproductive exploitation.
Consult adoptees with relevant lived experiences and diversify your sources.
Build relationships with and support the work of adoptee professionals who are well-versed in the diverse experiences of adoptees and are qualified to speak on behalf of the adoptee community.
READ MORE: Adoptee-Centered Language in Journalism & Child Welfare + Questions to consider
Contextualization
We urge newsrooms to cover adoption in the context of using adoptee-centered experiences at a time when adoption is also being politicized in the fight for women’s health rights.
We urge newsrooms to empower and support adoptee journalists and colleagues, while not overburdening them to serve as experts for all adopted folks. We encourage newsrooms to provide mental wellness support as our communities face increased problematic language surrounding adoption.
This guide was created by: Patrick Armstrong, SunAh Laybourn, Cameron Lee MS, LPCC, Kira Omans, Megan Schellong, and Michelle Li