I'm going a little rogue with this post to discuss something that I am in the thick of right now. I chose to research and highlight some of the media efforts made by adopted children, often considered a marginalized group in our society.
My family is in the middle of the adoption process right now. We have just submitted our Letter of Intent for a 6 year old girl in China - and we couldn't be happier! But we are also going through hours and hours and hours of training to prepare us for the difficulties of adoption - the ugly side of adoption.
Adoption is a beautiful story of redemption and family and love. But it is also a story of loss, grief, trauma, and a loss of identity. Our soon-to-be daughter was abandoned on the doorsteps of an orphanage when she was 3 days old. She will always struggle with that history, that part of her story. And though we have an amazing local community filled with many different cultures and many trans-racial families, I know that she will also struggle to find herself in our world. She may, like many adoptees, search for ways to address her struggle and find community with those who have similar stories.
Halverson's article talks about "film as medium that affords youth the opportunity to produce narratives of self." (p. 2358) Adoptees lose much of themselves when they are adopted: language, friends and caregivers, homeland and even their names. Film, in particular, gives them a voice. They are able to discuss their loss, struggles and the issues that they face in a multifaceted medium.
I found a host of adoption movies created by adult adoptees who wanted to chronicle the stories of their childhood. Though these were created by adults, they are still attempting to give their younger selves a voice.
This site offers a fantastic list of movies created by adoptees: https://harlows-monkey.com/resources/films/.
For those who aren't producing full-length feature films, Youtube is a fantastic vehicle for youth to express themselves. A simple search produced countless videos created by teenage adoptees who are yearning for a chance to tell their stories. Check out these links. (We actually watched part of the second and third videos during our adoption training sessions!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60R_aPWvHtMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTZwUks_wFE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrHNKC452G4
I love this quote by Halverson: "My research has shown that the adaptation of individual narratives of personal struggle into scripted scenes for personal performance is a powerful venue for the development of individual's viable social identities." (p. 2356) Film provides a unique vehicle for describing and displaying a person's full story.
Hi Erika,
ReplyDeleteI have known several families over the years who have gone through the international adoption process, and have experienced the trauma you speak of. What a backdrop to highlight ideas of expressing identity! Your process, and the love that shines through it, will also become part of your daughter's identity, and while she may struggle with ways of creating her own, I think that of being left on an orphanage doorstep will be the least of them. If nothing else, I've learned children are adaptive and resilient, as long as they feel loved and supported in expressing feelings about their identity. Your experience with multimedia will add another dimension to help her express anger, frustration, love and admiration as she experiences those things throughout her youth. It would be cool for you to create something, a montage of sorts, as you move through the adoption process. It may be something that helps her in the future, and will give you something to look back on when she is an adult. :-)
Thank you for sharing your story!
It's okay Erica, I think several of us went a bit rogue with this week's discussion. Great news on the family expansion and I hope that goes well. I actually have a cousin that is adopted (she's actually a cousin once removed biologically) and that definitely played a big role in her life. She actually wasn't aware of it until she was around ten or so but it did result in her starting to be a bit more distant with her family and trying to reconnect with her biological mother who wasn't able to properly support her. Connecting her identity of who her biological mother was and the aunt that actually raised her was definitely a struggle for her that I think she's still working through somewhat.
ReplyDelete