The theme of this year’s National Adoption Week in England (21st – 27th October) is “adoption journey.” National Adoption Week is an annual adopter recruitment campaign by Adoption England under the #YouCanAdopt brand, funded by the Department for Education. Their marketing campaign utilises celebrity supporters, news stories fed to national publications such as The Big Issue, and a social media campaign.
Some of the funding goes to PAC-UK who hold online and in-person events, including in recent years an in-person day in London for adult adoptees.
Naturally, Adoption England represents the adoption sector and will therefore present the most positive narrative about adoption, and only adoptees who are supportive will be included in their campaigns. Last year, we decided to highlight adoptee voices from our own community during National Adoption Week. We asked adoptees what word they would use to describe adoption, which we then made into a word cloud and video. We also drew from longer answers to create our own social media campaign. These contributions can be found in our blog section.
This year, we want to talk about the “adoption journey” metaphor and what it means. It is obvious that this language is targeted towards adopters and prospective adopters. It evokes an adventure, a progression or destination, and something you willingly embark on. In short, it is selling prospective adopters an experience. In the words of one agency, “an experience that’s full of adventure, challenges, chaos and conversation – but most importantly, love.” It is also making adoption about them – even as leaders in the field continue to insist that adoption should be child-centred. In adoption agency marketing, we can find extensions of the metaphor – there may be “bumps in the road” but it will be “an exciting and life-changing journey.” A simple internet search for “adoption journey” will lead you to many examples and we’ve put together a small slide show.
Furthermore, it completely erases the adoptee experience and voice. Adoption is not a “journey” we undertake. It is our LIFE. We cannot get off this ride, however much we want to. We are given no directions. Or worse, we are given misleading directions. If we want to talk about our experiences, often we are silenced or told our voices do not count. Once we reach adulthood, our “adoption journey” is no longer of use or meaning to the sector or to government and we are expected to blend quietly into the rest of the population. Unless, of course, we have a tear-jerking reunion story to share.
This year, we have asked our Adoptee Voices group what “adoption journey” means to them, and had a wonderful conversation about how adoptees feel about, and interpret, that metaphor. We will use some of these images to create our own social media campaign. There is still time if you would like to join the conversation and contribute. You can fill out the form below, or share and engage with our social media posts starting on 21st October. Here’s a taster!
