{"quotes":[{"text":"If the system were designed to protect adoptees, why do so many have to fight for their rights?","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptee-rights","adoptees","adopting","adopting-a-child","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-industry","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-story","adoption-system","civil-rights","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","original-birth-certificate","rights"],"id":38407,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Discovering that I was adopted redefined my entire world, but it taught me that who you are doesn't change.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adoptee","adoptees","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-month","adoption-search","adoption-story","change","change","discover","discover-yourself","discoveries","discovery","discovery-of-oneself","identity","identity-confusion","identity-crisis","identity-politics","identity","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","who-we-are"],"id":41086,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Destiny is not always preordained. Life is about making choices. Our lives are the sum of all the choices we make, the bridges we cross, and the ones we burn. Our souls cast long shadows over many people, even after we are gone. Fate, luck, and providence are the consequence of our freedom of choice, not the determinants. When justice is served by following our principles, making good decisions brings us inner peace.","author":"Judith Land","tags":["adopt","adopted-child-syndrome","adoptees","adoption","adoption-detective","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-stories","adoptive-parents","birth-father","birth-mother","foster-child","genealogical-bewilderment","memoir","orphan","parental-alienation","selective-mutism","social-worker"],"id":197328,"author_id":"Judith+Land"},{"text":"Adoptees deserve open records because deception and partial truths do not set us free.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptee-rights","adoptees","adopting","adopting-a-child","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-industry","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-story","adoption-system","civil-rights","deception","lies","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","original-birth-certificate","rights"],"id":222413,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Adoption is a lifelong journey. It means different things to me at different times. Sometimes it is just a part of who I am. Other times it is something I am actively going through.","author":"Kelly DiBenedetto","tags":["adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptees","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-story","adoptive-family","adoptive-parents","foster-care","foster-child","foster-children","mental-health","mental-health-professionals","nonfiction-self-help","self-care","self-care","self-care-self-awareness"],"id":230845,"author_id":"Kelly+DiBenedetto"},{"text":"Adoptee rights are everyone's rights, and they deserve to be protected.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptee-rights","adoptees","adopting","adopting-a-child","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-story","civil-rights","civil-rights","human-rights","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","original-birth-certificate","rights","rights-of-a-child","social-problem","social-problems"],"id":266988,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Blood can help make family, but family often transcends blood.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptees","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-month","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-story","bloodlines","family","family-relationships","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","relationship","relationships"],"id":285593,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Adoption isn't just a childhood experience, it's a life-long experience.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptee-rights","adoptees","adopting","adopting-a-child","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-story","childhood","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month"],"id":302287,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Being denied their original birth certificates isn't just a problem for adoptees. It's a social problem, requiring social change.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adopted","adopted-kids","adoptee","adoptee-rights","adoptees","adopting","adopting-a-child","adoption","adoption-and-attitude","adoption-day","adoption-reunions","adoption-search","adoption-story","change","childhood","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","original-birth-certificate","social-change","social-problem","social-problems"],"id":309288,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"},{"text":"Laws forbidding adoptees from accessing their original birth certificates are outdated and need to be changed today.","author":"DaShanne Stokes","tags":["adopt","adopted","adoptee-rights","adoptees","adoption","adoption-story","government","law","laws","national-adoption-day","national-adoption-month","original-birth-certificate","politics"],"id":338119,"author_id":"DaShanne+Stokes"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":10,"pages":1}}