We are grateful for the incredible and selfless dedication of all our volunteers. Those who have been working on The Adoption Files Initiative (TAFI) have spent thousands of hours reviewing hundreds of decades-old adoption files from many years ago when many adoptions were secretive. Our volunteers’ work, along with the dedication of Amara staff members,
Category: Adoption

Speaking of Change: How Parent and Caregiver Partnerships Can Help Children Thrive
“Relationships are what change people.” Shrounda Selivanoff, a parent and kinship caregiver who also is the Director of Public Policy at the Children’s Home Society of Washington shared this important truth as a panelist at our Speaking of Change conversation on “How Parent and Caregiver Partnerships Can Help Children Thrive.” Amara’s Speaking of Change

Adoption Insights from Fulbright Scholar Jenni Tupu
“Mountains, moons, stars…they’re part of our DNA,” says Jenni Tupu, a Fulbright Scholar, Doctoral Candidate, Adoptee and Adoptive Parent who is working and volunteering at Amara as part of her field research on the impacts of adoption. “Adoption has shaped much of my life,” she explains. As a young child, she was adopted in a

A message of solidarity
As an open and affirming child welfare-focused organization, we at Amara stand in solidarity with women, girls, and all people who can become pregnant and their fundamental human rights to bodily autonomy and reproductive health care. The World Health Organization defines abortion care as health care. Today’s Supreme Court decision to end the constitutional right

Amara’s Adoption Files Initiative In the News
Amara’s efforts to make amends in decades-old adoption cases where requests for information were unfulfilled have been featured in The Imprint and Crosscut news. The Adoption Files Initiative is at last uncovering answers for some adoptees, thanks to our amazing volunteers and the work of our post-adoption team. “The initiative appears to be an unprecedented effort,

What is Openness in Adoption?
Openness is the spirit in which you enter into your relationship with your child where you strive to be emotionally present as they process their adoptedness. Openness is where adoptive parents strive to be present with their child as they process their adoptedness. We believe that even when physical contact isn’t available your family can still achieve a spirit openness.

What is the Inclusive Family Support Model?
This animated short provides an easy-to-understand explanation of the Inclusive Family Support Model (IFSM), the country’s first practice model specifically designed to support adoptive families in creating more open relationships with their children’s biological families.

Transracial Adoptees Say Their Parents Need to Talk to Them About Race
Amara’s Director of Post-Adoption, Angela Tucker, was featured on the King5 series, “Facing Race,” about identities challenges that result from transracial adoption. View story on King5 News

Finding Your Village: Virtual Parenting Support Groups for Seattle-Area Families
Amara’s STAR (Strong, Tough, and Resilient) Adoptive Parent Group was featured in Parent Map for providing a virtual space for adoptive parents to build community. Read more at ParentMap