My hope is not to tell you what to think about adoption. I hope to help you understand it more deeply and honestly
Why Hiraeth & Honey?
One day, while listening to a podcast, I heard a woman use the Welsh word hiraeth. She described it as a longing, an ache for a home that cannot fully be returned to or perhaps was never completely known. I remember stopping in my tracks.
My heart skipped a beat, tears filled my eyes, and for the first time, I had a word for something I had carried my entire life.
As an adoptee, I have often lived with a longing that is difficult to explain. A longing for a home, a culture, a language, a family, and relationships that I know exist, yet may never fully know. It is an ache that cannot be solved simply by finding answers. Some questions may never have answers. Some losses cannot be undone.
Every Educator Has A Beginning.
This is one of the earliest photographs of me after my adoption from Haiti. Long before I had words like identity, attachment, grief, or belonging, I was simply a little girl learning to navigate a new world. My adoption story opened doors to incredible opportunities, while also introducing questions and losses I would spend years learning to understand. As I grew older, I realized that many of the conversations surrounding adoption were missing an essential voice: the perspective of adoptees themselves. That realization eventually became my life's work.