From Orphan To Adoption Scholar: Researching Families Of Origin

Join On Your Feet Foundation's Activism in Adoption speaker series for this fascinating conversation about adoption ethics and family preservation with Dr. Atamhi Cawayu, an adoption scholar uniquely positioned to transcend the traditional boundaries between domestic and international adoption systems. As both a Bolivian adoptee raised in Belgium and a scholar who earned his PhD in Gender and Diversity Studies from Ghent University, Dr. Cawayu offers rare insight into the lived experiences of families of origin, one of the most systematically silenced groups in adoption discourse. Through his work in Bolivia, he helped facilitate about 15 reunifications between adoptees and their families of origin, hearing directly from parents who had been desperately searching for their children, often for decades. For birthparents in our audience, his research validates experiences that are often minimized or dismissed. For adoptees navigating reunion, his work offers important context about what their birth families may have endured. And for mental health professionals and social workers, Dr. Cawayu demonstrates why centering the voices of adoptees and birth families—rather than agencies or adoptive parents—leads to more honest conversations about what adoption really is. Dr. Cawayu's work also speaks to bigger questions about the future of adoption itself. He served on an official government panel in Belgium examining adoption practices, and his research engages with what's happening across Europe, where multiple countries have paused or stopped international adoption programs entirely after investigations revealed systemic problems. These aren't distant issues—they're questions the U.S. adoption system is beginning to face too: questions about ethics, informed consent, family preservation, and accountability. His current project, PACTO, is working to reimagine child protection in Bolivia by putting adoptees, birth families, and young people who grew up in care in charge of designing better systems—not as research subjects, but as experts. For anyone interested in what ethical, family-centered child welfare could look like, or for those tracking international developments like South Korea's recent moves to end international adoption, this session offers valuable lessons about how we might approach similar reckonings in the United States.

Event Links

Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3448554-0

Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3448554-2

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