Category: Orphancy & Archetype

topographia

Here, we tend the sacred ache of Orphancy—
The archetypal or literal state of being severed from one’s roots. Through the Trinity of Separation, we trace the path from the initial fracture to the long season of unbelonging. These essays bridge the gap between child welfare ethics and the deep psyche, inviting the ‘stranger to their own life’ to stop wandering and begin the holy work of reclaiming their true psychic inheritance.

  • Lord, Hold Us in Your Mercy

    Lord, Hold Us in Your Mercy

    In adoption we have many competing interests. We have two sets of parents, two families, but only one child. The adopted person so often feels torn. There’s the difficulty of trying to resolve much that’s deeply held.

  • Jim Crow Love

    Jim Crow Love

    A child should never feel like an outsider in their own family, never be expected to settle for something ‘less.’ This is what I feel most deeply about love and adoption.

  • Adoption as Legal Kidnapping

    Adoption as Legal Kidnapping

    If more mothers knew how difficult it is to revoke a Consent to Adoption in court, fewer would sign them. The chance of regaining custody of one’s child so separated is almost nil.

  • Family Tree Assignment

    Family Tree Assignment

    Not every adopted child was placed as an infant, and their day of birth wasn’t always a cause for celebration. Nor is adoption, as commonly idealized, a universally cherished event.