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Yes We Adopt!

@yesweadopt

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Hope • Love • Community
Amplifying Black voices connected to or curious about adoption or foster care.
🚫 secrecy or shame 🚫

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We continue to uplift Black Adoptee Voices. Today we shine the spotlight on Stacey Gatlin
• Creator of Yes We Adopt which strives to raise awareness in the Black community of the need for Black adoptive and foster parents and to educate, uplift, and empower Black families
• Founder of Yes We Adopt: Black Voices Amplified Summit
• Board member of Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA)
• Adoptive mom
• Workshop creator
• Podcast guest*
“Once Upon a Time in Adopteeland https://www.onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com/episode/231-stacey-gatlin-yes-we-adoptwww.yesweadopt.com/summit
#BlackAdopteeVoices #AdopteeVoices #AdoptionComplexity #AdoptionAttunement #TriSpective #TriRelationalInterconnectivity #BlackAdopteeAuthors #AdoptionWriter #rewritethenarrative

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Join @adoptionknowledgeaffiliates and @yesweadopt for a powerful virtual conversation centering Black voices across the adoption constellation!

Use the QR code to register.

Our guests will share lived experience, challenge common myths, and explore what respect, responsibility, and healing can look like in real relationships.

This 90-minute discussion will hold space for the love, loss, identity, and complexity that exist in adoption — especially within Black families and communities, where history, culture, and systemic realities deeply shape the experience.

This is not a debate.
This is not a “feel-good” story hour.
This is a guided conversation grounded in truth, care, and listening.

Together we will explore:
What is often misunderstood about birth parents and adoptees
How race and identity shape adoption experiences
What real support and respect look like across roles
Harmful myths that need to be unlearned
Where hope and healing are taking root

Whether you are an adoptee, parent who relinquished, adoptive parent, professional, or community member, this conversation invites you to listen deeply and reflect on what it means to be connected in the constellation.

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We’re kicking off 2026 with connection, community, and heart-centered moments for families and children impacted by foster care and adoption. 💙
📅 January Events:
🎲 Blend: Family Game Night — Sat, Jan 10 at Sandshore Elementary School — fun for the whole family! miriamsheart
🥖 Panera Bread Fundraiser — Fri, Jan 16 (in store 4–8 PM-all day online)— dine with purpose and support our mission!
🤝 Common Ground — Mon, Jan 19 at Miriam’s Heart — an adult adoptee & foster-care survivor gathering.
🛼 Urban Air Fundraiser — Thu, Jan 29 — jump in for fun while giving back!
💫 These events are all about building community, restoring hope, and celebrating every family’s story.
👉 RSVP and learn more at miriamsheart.org/event
#miriamsheart @rootsandwingsnj @cfhc686 @wearelovednj @yesweadopt @musicforallseasons @evangelchurch @onechurchnj @liquidchurch @mosaicchurchnj @holtinternational @chanyangnj #rutgerscommunitychristianchurchenglishcongregation #radical @childadvocacynetworknj @embrella.nj

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Lights! Camera! Action!!! The 5th Annual Yes We Adopt: Black Voices Amplified Summit is TODAY!! We have the entire constellation represented.

It’s not too late to register! You don’t want to miss it! You can also purchase the replay. Get your 🎟️ here:
www.yesweadopt.com/2025-Summit
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#yesweadopt #ywavillage #YWASummit25
#adoption #adoptioneducation #NAAM

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🌸✨ Join us for CPFA’s 11th Annual Family Conference — a day of connection, learning, and love for adoptive, foster, and pre-adoptive families. 💜 Free breakfast + lunch, workshops, and community you don’t want to miss! 🍕☕

📅 October 18th, 2025
📍 494 Route 10 West, Whippany, NJ, 07981
🔗 Register at cpfanj.org

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Spent time with my middle schoolers at the Clearwater Teen Runaway & Homeless Shelter, they wanted copies of my “Chosen R Us” A-Z Affirmations self esteem building work books to keep their minds strong. I blessed them with school supplies & self-care goodies to feel pampered & loved 🩷 Just doing my part to remind them: I survived the streets & so can you! The books I write were made for THEM! These kids are me & I will go wherever they are to reach them! With love, Little Orphan Ashley

#LittleOrphanAshley #MyKids #MyLife #SociallyConsciousKids #EachOneTeachOne #ChosenRUs #TheOutcast #BlackSheeps #TheChosen #YouthEmpowerment #FromTheHeart #GiveBack #Claires #Mac #Amazon #Walmart #SelfCare #TeenSupport #MentalWellness #HomelessYouth #ChangeMaker

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Being recognized by your peers is such an amazing feeling. Thank you @yesweadopt for the shout out. And we salute the other kings who are sharing their talents and their stories! #adoptionstories #blackandadopted #brotherswhopodcast #podcastersofinstagram #beardedpodcasters #podcastersofinstagram #ourstory #firepitconversations

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Closing out May📢 Post-Adoption Depression Is Real.
“I had this bundle of joy — but I lost myself in the process. I needed time to just be Stacey again.” — @sgatlin24 , founder of @yesweadopt

In our May episode of Born in June, Raised in April, Stacey opens up about the emotional complexity of adoption, identity loss, and navigating mental health as a new parent. Her honesty breaks silence and opens doors for healing.

💛 Let’s talk about the full range of parenting experiences—especially the ones we’re taught to hide.
🎧 Tune in, reflect, and share: juneinapril.com/podcast
#BornInJuneRaisedInApril #YesWeAdopt #PostAdoptionDepression #MentalHealthMatters #AdoptionAwareness #BlackFamilies #AdoptionRealTalk

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There’s something truly sacred about the bonds formed within our foster care and adoption community. When those of us who’ve walked similar paths come together to lift each other up, incredible things happen. ✨

A few months ago, I had the privilege of connecting with Stacey, founder of @yesweadopt . That conversation led to something beautiful, Stacey later appeared on @jenniferdyanghoston podcast “Once Upon a Time in Adopteeland,” where Jennifer shared her heart to donate children’s books about foster care during #FosterCareAwarenessMonth to an organization doing boots-on-the-ground work.

Stacey thought of us, @unashamedinc. Jennifer shipped us 100 copies of “Planted with Love,” written by @natasha_stories and we’ve been able to share these precious resources with other organizations supporting youth in care, including our friends at @fosteringfamilyhope

Written by licensed social worker Natasha Tripplett, “Planted with Love” beautifully illustrates how a loving home and caring adult can provide the safe foundation every child needs to flourish. This heartfelt picture book shows one child’s foster care journey and reminds all kids that, just like a garden, love from the right source helps them bloom. 🌱

This is the power of our community. When former youth in care and adoptees support each other, when we share resources and connections, when we remember that we’re all part of something bigger, magic happens. These books will touch young hearts and remind children in care that they are worthy of love and capable of incredible growth.

Thank you, Stacey and Jennifer, for showing what partnership in our sacred community looks like. 💙

#FosterCare #Adoption #Community #PlantedWithLove #YouthInCare
#unashamedinc

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How does your childhood shape your parenting?

In this month’s episode of Born in June, Raised in April, Stacey Gatlin ( @sgatlin24 ) of @yesweadopt reflects on being raised to ask for permission — and parenting a child who moves with confidence and independence.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that healing yourself is part of raising whole, resilient kids. 🤗

🎧 Listen now at juneinapril.com/podcast or wherever you stream.

#AdoptionJourney #PermissionKid #ParentingHealing #AdoptiveParents #BornInJuneRaisedInApril #YesWeAdopt #BlackParenting #ParentWithPurpose #mentalhealthawareness

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🎙️May 2025 Episode Out Now!🎙️

Representation matters — in families and in systems. Stacey Gatlin ( @sgatlin24 ) founded @yesweadopt to challenge the myth that Black families don’t adopt. In this episode, we talk about advocacy, visibility, and changing the narrative around adoption.

🎧 Tune in to this important conversation anywhere you listen to podcasts or by going to juneinapril.com

#YesWeAdopt #BlackFamiliesAdopt #AdoptionAdvocacy #RepresentationMatters #BornInJuneRaisedInApril #FamilyJustice #AdoptionTruths #BlackVoicesMatter

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It’s May! And this month I will be exploring the intricacies of being born from one woman and raised by another…

In many ways I can both cherish, honor and love the mother that raised me, Sandi. And hold space for the mother who brought me into this world, Helen. 💐

🎙️ There are a lot of complexities around this topic of mothers that I dive into in different ways in both my podcasts:

🗓️ In Calendar Conversations: A Guide for Adoptive Parents I explore the need for expansiveness around these types of holidays.

🗣️ In Born in June, Raised in April: What Adoption can Teach the World I sit down with Stacey Gatlin to talk about her thoughts on motherhood and becoming a mother and her commitment to advocating the experiences that extended family of adoption face daily.

I cannot wait to share these powerful podcasts with all of you, coming very soon! As always, stay tuned in for more this month on Mothers and Motherhood as it relates to adoption.

#may #mothersday
#mother #mom #motherhood
#parents #parenting
#adoptiveparents
#adoption #identity #family

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