If the system were designed to protect adoptees, why do so many have to fight for their rights?

— DaShanne Stokes

Discovering that I was adopted redefined my entire world, but it taught me that who you are doesn't change.

— DaShanne Stokes

What makes a family is neither the absence of tragedy nor the ability to hide from misfortune, but the courage to overcome it and, from that broken past, write a new beginning.

— Steve Pemberton

I love them both as though I birthed them both, but also as though I adopted them both.

— Natalie Brenner

Adoptees deserve open records because deception and partial truths do not set us free.

— DaShanne Stokes

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.

— Kelly DiBenedetto

Adoptee rights are everyone's rights, and they deserve to be protected.

— DaShanne Stokes

Blood can help make family, but family often transcends blood.

— DaShanne Stokes

Adoption isn't just a childhood experience, it's a life-long experience.

— DaShanne Stokes

Being denied their original birth certificates isn't just a problem for adoptees. It's a social problem, requiring social change.

— DaShanne Stokes