Saturday Afternoon, Session B

Introduction: It is becoming more and more common to hear that an international adoptee has found their birth family through social media. Social media, such as Facebook, has changed how adoptees experience their search and reunion. With these online communication tools, adoptees and their birth families can find and contact each other faster than by going through more official channels, like the government. However, this type of search and reunion can be unsettling in different ways. 
Aims: The aim of the research on which this proposal is based was to better understand how internationally adopted adults experience social media contact with their birth families.
Method: Eight Quebec international adoptees aged 18 and older participated in individual interviews. The study was conducted by using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the adoptees' discourses.
Results: The adoptees' discourses mention how support from their adoptive family and their social network, such as emotional and financial support, and from adoption competent professionals helped them face the different challenges brought on by social media contact. Access to different resources, like translation applications, also enabled their ability to manage the situation and its more negative facets.
Discussion: Different types of support and resources play an important role in the outcome of the social media contact between adoptees and their birth families. When participants have access to help and resources, they can better navigate this reality that can be disturbing. 
Implications: Adoptees who conduct their search and reunion through social media usually do not have professional help and must navigate the outcomes alone. This study indicates different ways in which adoptees can better make sense of their experience and the help their family, their friends, and professionals can offer for them to live a more positive search and reunion.

Adoption reunions, where the adult adopted person finds and meets their birth family member (s), can be complex endeavors given the myriad adoption related developmental issues present for both parties. Transnational adoption reunions add an additional layer of complexity regarding cultural and language barriers. Research from Korean adoptee transnational reunions suggests variations in experiences for the adult adopted person. However, little is known about how adult Colombian adopted persons experience transnational reunions with their Colombian first/birth families. In their qualitative study, the researchers will present the findings gathered from 17 adult Colombian adoptees who shared their reunion narratives. Recommendations for search and reunion for other transnational adoptees, adoptive families, and adoption professionals will be discussed.