Blog: CVAA conference 2025: Adoptee rights and voicesBlog: CVAA conference 2025: Adoptee rights and voices
A core pillar of CVAA’s strategy, Shaping the Future of Adoption Services, is learning from adoptees and championing their needs into adulthood. We were pleased to honour this commitment at our conference, with a moving panel of adopted young people from Adopt East Hertfordshire. Their stories complemented a morning of reflection led by Lynelle Long, who presented her Intercountry Adoptee Rights Charter.
Lynelle spoke with passion and clarity about scaffolding adoptees to lead and support their own communities – making them active agents of change rather than passive recipients of welfare, Her call to agencies was clear: “Sit beside us, cheer us on, cry with us, support us – legally, financially – then we have a partnership with you”.
Here are three standout lessons from the young adoptees who shared their stories with courage and insight, expertly guided and championed by practitioners Nina Aujla and Lisa Johnson:
Identity needs are personal — and varied
All the young people had connected with birth family members, but each experience was different. For Eliza, it was transformative: “I felt like I found a piece of myself when I found my sister”. But for Jake it wasn’t a ‘Hollywood reunion’ – it was about getting answers.
There’s often an assumption that contact means a new, lasting relationship. But sometimes, it’s simply about filling in the gaps. Identity journeys are individual and must be adoptee-led and well supported.
Schools must be more involved
The lightbulb moment came when Jake shared that his school hadn’t acknowledged National Adoption Week — not even an assembly.
This is an area we have overlooked as a sector. It’s our responsibility to bring schools in.
Cara and Eliza shared heartwarming stories of teachers who ‘got it’. But those teachers shouldn’t be hard to find. We need to reach a point where every teacher understands adoption and ‘gets it’.
Advice for adopters
No advice for adopters is more valuable than hearing directly from young people. In their own words:
“My parents celebrate my different wins.”
“Listen, stay consistent, and believe in you when you’re struggling.” – Cara
“They’re not your birth child. It’s different. It will always be different. You need to treat them like they’re your own but also acknowledge that they’re not.” – Jake
“My name is something I carry from my birth parents. I’d be very upset if anyone had changed that.” – Cara
ICAV – Intercountry Adoptee Rights Charter can be found here
Please note that names have been anonymised in this blog.