Becoming adopted: Rebuilding adoptive identity through artifacts

In this article, I share my experiences navigating identity formation as an adult adopted in childhood. I examine my unique and complicated perspective both as an adoptee and as an adoptive parent. By engaging with others, I highlight the inner world of adoptees—an aspect of identity that is often difficult to capture in theory or practice. Their experiences are shaped by complex, fragile emotions that resist easy explanation. This article reflects my exploration with pre-adoptive artifacts, such as photographs, clothing, birth and foster documents, and letters, which helped illuminate facets of my birth-through-adoption history. When shared and critically examined with other adoptees, these objects can serve as valuable tools for addressing sensitive questions about belonging, selfhood, and family. Artifacts associated with adoption also provide emotional depth to identity exploration. Through this reflection, I offer insights into the ever-conflicting ways adoptees become adopted.