ADOPTEE NEWS
Selected reporting, research and adoptee perspectives on family separation and reunion, records, citizenship, identity and public memory. We bring Black German postwar adoption into conversation with other adoption histories while respecting their different circumstances.
External article links open in a new tab. Publication dates refer to the original sources; older research is labeled separately.
Latest reporting
Intercountry Adoptees Are Being Charged With Illegal Voting. What You Need to Know.
Gregory D. Luce · Adoptee Rights Law Center · October 23, 2026
Legal analysis · English · United States
Luce reviews pending federal voting charges involving two older intercountry adoptees, including a German-born adoptee, and explains how citizenship gaps, incomplete government records and missing proof of citizenship can expose adoptees to serious legal consequences. The charges are accusations, not findings. BGHRA’s assessment: this is directly relevant to Black German adoptees in the United States, especially people adopted before the Child Citizenship Act’s age cutoff or whose families assumed citizenship was automatic. Adoptees with questions about their status or voting history should consult qualified counsel before taking action.
Time-sensitive: Adoptees United will hold a free virtual forum on adoptees, voting and citizenship on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. See also BGHRA’s German citizenship resource for the Black German community in the United States.
Adoptees from Korea say they were abused and isolated in the US. Were they also ‘stolen’ from their birth parents?
Alice Hutton · The Guardian · October 22, 2026
Long-form reporting · Korea / United States
Hutton examines contrasting adult adoptee experiences alongside family searches, adoption records and South Korea’s reckoning with improper adoptions. Our reading: a useful comparison for considering reunion and accountability across the lifespan; the Korean findings do not establish what happened in individual Black German adoptions.
Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in disputed Afghan adoption case
Lindsay Whitehurst and Claire Galofaro · Associated Press · October 19, 2026
News report · Afghanistan / United States
AP reports on an Afghan family’s unsuccessful appeal concerning a contested U.S. adoption and a state-law deadline. Our reading: a contemporary case for examining how military power, claims of rescue and legal procedure can shape family separation; it is a historically distinct comparison.
Research & perspectives
Earlier work selected for its continuing relevance to adoptees, families and community archives.
Beyond Records: Adoptees’ Experiences of Family Origins and Reunion in Quebec’s Changing Legal Landscape
Anne-Marie Piché and Geneviève Pagé · Adoption Quarterly 29, nos. 1–2 (2026), pp. 139–172 · First published online June 6, 2025
Peer-reviewed research · Quebec · Earlier reading
This qualitative study examines adoptees’ searches and family connections following reforms to sealed-record access. Our reading: valuable for understanding why access to a file and meaningful support through search and reunion are related but separate needs. Full text may require library access.
Who Controls Adoption Archives?
Durga Saraya · InterCountry Adoptee Voices · July 13, 2026
Adoptee-authored analysis · English · Earlier perspectives
Saraya examines how institutional recordkeeping and access rules shape what adoptees and first families can learn about their histories. Our reading: an especially useful perspective on adoptees as researchers and on archives as resources for identity, kinship and accountability.
Related analysis: recognition & redress
Reparationen für Kolonialverbrechen? Der deutsch-namibische Fall im internationalen Kontext
Nicole L. Immler · Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte / Federal Agency for Civic Education · October 2, 2026
Analysis · German · Germany / Namibia
Immler examines the differences between legal liability, political recognition and development assistance, and the importance of affected communities’ participation. Our reading: a valuable comparison for thinking about recognition and reparative processes. Colonial genocide and postwar adoption are distinct histories; the article does not establish legal findings about Black German adoptions.