i understand why so many people are ignorant about adoption, adoptees are like 1 to 3% of the population. what i don't get is why they're so confident they aren't, to the point of shouting down actual adoptees constantly. 🥚

i think that anyone with children who defends #adoption on the grounds that adoptees enjoy better lives with their adopters than in their original families and communities should reflect on where & to whom they should have relinquished their own children. shouldn’t we pursue full-scale optimization?

If anything, it's the other way around. Adoptees literally have the least amount of power in the euphemistically named "adoption triad." Everything was done to us without our consent.

In 2020, Arundhati Roy wrote a gorgeous, prescient essay called “The Pandemic is a Portal”. In this piece, I discuss who actually walked through it: the COVID conscious community, and why I’m proud to be a part of it. www.thegauntlet.news/p/the-pandem...

I am often asked: what about gay people who want to adopt? I actually think it’s really important to push back on this question, and any question that centers prospective adoptive parents. Adoption isn’t — or at least shouldn’t be — about sourcing babies for people who want them.

In light of Pride month I'm fundraising for Point of Pride, an incredible trans-led nonprofit that provides direct gender affirming care & things like HRT to trans ppl in need. Please, please donate any small amount that you can. Every bit makes a major impact! secure.givelively.org/donate/point...

Several states have adopted shield laws to protect providers of gender affirming care, including from out-of-state actors who want to punish them for treating ban-state residents. Some states cover repro but not GAC. Know your state’s law & advocate for your state leaders to strengthen protections

🥚 12 Things People Always Ask Me About Adoption drbarbarasumner.substack.com/p/12-things-...

A broad group of National Institutes of Health (NIH) public servants have taken action with the "Bethesda Declaration" that targets the NIH and HHS Leadership. Join these courageous and committed professionals by adding your name now. actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na...

If you’re looking for quality independent reporting on what’s happening in Los Angeles, I’ve put together a starter pack for it. If you’d like to be added or know an indie who should be added, hmu

the United States is by far the largest “receiving country” of intercountry adoptions in the world. To keep the commerce running smoothly, US #adoption agencies falsify children’s histories. not coincidentally (I believe), the US has refused to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

one step the state government of California could take to reduce the incentive to use services like this would be to give adoptees *their own fucking birth records*.

Vaccines should be a last line of defense, the most important thing to do is wear a mask, ventilate and try not to get infected. Every single time you get sick with Covid your body is harmed and the damage to your body is cumulative. This is why you want to mitigate infection

My mother tried to find me and sign for contact when I was 18. She gave DHS medical information then. I was an adult, but the county never tried to contact me. This is medical negligence. #adopted #adoption #Trauma open.substack.com/pub/defendsu...

Domestique statement regarding Mihai Simion. #TheVoiceOfCycling

I have run out of patience with the apparent silence of most US science institutions (and not just US) in the face of Trump & Musk's rampage. There are of so many facets of that, but in this column for @chemistryworld.com I talk about the assaults on inclusion. www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/scie...

This is a great question I'll answer in a thread. If I miss any details hopefully someone else will chime in (1/x)

a “disclosure veto” on an adoptee’s access to their birth records means that someone else gets to decide if they deserve to know their own identity. If you aren’t adopted, you cannot understand how outrageously unjust this is. Fuck #adoption forever.

a slideshow on surrogacy policy from the always 🔥 @moonjoo.bsky.social 🥚 1/8

it’s so exhausting to have a career in librarianship, 📚 which is devoted to making accurate information accessible to all, and at the same to be an adoptee, 🥚 living inside a structure predicated on secrecy and falsifying the record.

Anyway, WEAR A MASK. Covid is airborne and wearing a respirator is the single biggest step you can take to prevent infection. Also, try to stay in well ventilated areas/avoid crowded indoor spaces, test and encourage others to test, stay home if you're sick, and get vaccinated to help prevent death

"We have some super good riders, and I want to help them first, and then we’ll see what I can get out of it for myself."

Okay, here’s the deal: RIGHT NOW is the time for concrete, direct action. If you’re following me, it’s probably because you care about trans art and trans literature. The article below lays out my suggestions for dozens of concrete actions you can take to preemptively combat literary censorship.

Both are true: -the adoption *industry* is morally corrupt; -adoption as a *legal* practice and structure violates the human rights of the adoptee.

HB 2093 was just introduced in Virginia. If passed it will give adult adopted ppl born there the right to obtain their original birth certificate w no restrictions. Any VA resident or adoptees born in VA can help! Follow the link to find email templates and contact info for subcommittee members.

PS Query to kept people: what makes some of you think it’s ok to instruct adoptees on 1) how to feel; 2) how biology works; and 3) what should be important to us when you have no working knowledge of 1) US adoption practices; 2) medical decision-making with unknown parentage; and 3) adoption trauma?

The repeated bipartisan fucking over of families at risk of destruction, primarily because of the intertwining of poverty and racism, exemplifies a sad truth: To adopters we say “Love is what makes a family.” And to at-risk families we say “Love is not enough.” 🥚

Always worth another read. #adoptionistrauma 🥚 @notalegalrecord.net www.notalegalrecord.net/archive/four...

Hey, friends! Today is #LGBTQSTEMDay, which celebrates the work and highlights the barriers of LGBTQIA+ people in science, tech, engineering, math. I came out publicly on this day in 2019. Here’s my original essay—all about biology, adoption, and queerness. 🥚🧪🌈 www.terrain.org/2019/guest-e...

It’s been almost 5 years since Covid started & people are STILL asking “are you going to mask forever?” Folks - we are in a worse place now with respect to the pandemic than we were before. Yes I’m going to mask forever - or until something significant changes. When there’s a threat - you adapt.

If you keep forgetting alt text, this setting is for you. It's awesome!

For the next two weeks, we’re offering ten free ebooks for getting free Another world is possible if we fight for it www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/517-te...

We allow it because we are greedy, and because we believe that there is nothing that people in poverty don’t deserve to suffer. Adoption cannot be reformed. It must be abolished. 🥚

I’m a public librarian in a degenerating democracy, and I am pleading: Care about your library. Use it. See what programs and events it offers. And pay attention to its governing body. See who the trustees are. Consider running yourself. Libraries will need all the community support they can get. 📚