Adult adoptees describe their early-life experiences with new families in adoptive countries.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Chaitra Wirta-Leiker, Psy.D., adopted from India. Chaitra discusses ways as adoptees feel we need to navigate between two worlds all the while discerning where guilt and shame can malign our sense of empowerment and resilience.

Adopted as older children, now adult adoptees describe their early-life memories of first families, separations, and orphanages.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, JaeHee (Melanie) Chung-Sherman, LCSW, adopted from South Korea. JaeHee speaks to ways memory can be recalled, honored and witnessed in order for adoptees to explore the creation of a more whole narrative on their life all the while integrating past into the present.

Adult adoptees talk about identity formation, development, and evolution.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapists Meg Eifrig, LCPC, adopted from Colombia, and Robyn Joy Park, LMFT, adopted from South Korea. Meg and Robyn share the many ways we can de-pathologize adoption all the while naming the trauma of being adopted and the lifelong relationship we adoptees may have with loss and grief. 

From college essays to DNA tests, adult adoptees talk about pivotal moments in their life stories.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Cameron Lee Small, LCPC, adopted from South Korea. Cameron talks about the restorative nature of providing a different response in the telling of an adoptee’s story creating a new sense of validation and understanding of self.

Adult adoptees talk about the desire to search for information and biological family.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Jaclyn Skalnik, LCSW, adopted from South Korea. Jaclyn walks viewers through the myriad of questions, queries and dilemmas adoptees navigate through the complex journey of finding answers about birth/first family members and culture.

Adult adoptees tell the stories of how they came to know biological parents and family.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Susan Branco, PhD, adopted from Colombia. Susan shares the transformative nature of that first meeting with birth/first family members and also speaks to the simultaneous process we as adoptees and clinicians can find ourselves, how to stay present in the work and mindful of our duality.

Adoptees talk about their experiences of visiting South Korea as adults.
A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Kim Warner-Hudy, LCSW, adopted from South Korea. Kim shares all the ways adoptees can begin to navigate the many expectations of a return trip to our birth country and back again to our adoptive homes.

These adoptee stories illustrate the unimaginable disparity of experiences and outcomes within our community.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Katie Naftzger, LICSW, adopted from South Korea. Katie shares all the ways adoptees have internalized the telling of their adoption story by others and begin to learn how to give themselves permission to take their time in creating their own story.

Adult adoptee perspectives about their life experiences and intercountry adoption.
A Side by Side short documentary film.

A conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and clinical therapist, Kacy Ames, LCSW, adopted from South Korea. Kacy shares her thoughts on how growing up adopted with little to few racial and cultural mirrors can be both complicated and an avenue to seek authenticity. She also examines how luck and gratitude can play a huge part of making sense of how we adoptees see our lives.

The life experiences of those who aged out of South Korean orphanages.

A Side by Side short documentary film.

A final conversation with IAMAdoptee co-founder, Joy Lieberthal Rho, and Side by Side co-director, Glenn Morey, adopted from South Korea. Glenn and Joy have a deeply personal conversation on the impact they felt bearing witness to the narratives of their Korean brothers and sisters who were never adopted as they share their extraordinary lives. Glenn also shares his thoughts on this very special collaboration.