Reclaiming Narratives: How UK Adult Adoptees Challenge Dominant Adoption Discourses through Social Media Advocacy

Over the past decade, the role of social networking in adoption practices has gained increasing attention from policymakers, researchers, and social workers. Key areas of focus include facilitating contact between biological families, reunification, modernising digital technology, and ensuring privacy for adopters. Adoptees, especially, have used social media to share their adoption experiences, offering critical reflections on adoption and the global child welfare system. Researchers like HeeRa Heaser, Emily K. Suh, and Isabelle Higgens have explored how American and Korean Australian adoptees engage with social media, addressing racial inequalities and challenging dominant adoption discourses. However, there is a gap in understanding how UK adoptees use social media to critique the narratives often framed positively by adoption agencies, focusing on stable homes and security. This research uses intersectionality, decolonial theory, and critical adoption studies to explore how UK adult adoptees reclaim their narratives online, revealing the complexities of the UK adoption system. Through thematic and critical discourse analysis of interviews with 35 UK adoptees, four themes emerged: secrecy and lies; commodification and infertility; race, identity, and inequality; and connection and validation. The study shows that adoptees primarily use social media for self-expression, connection, and advocacy, discussing feelings of alienation, lack of belonging, and the emotional challenges of searching for biological relatives. Their digital engagement also reflects broader social movements, with marginalised groups using online platforms to challenge dominant narratives and advocate for change. In the context of UK adoptees, their activism highlights the historical backdrop of colonialism, legal separation from family origins, and name-changing practices, highlighting the role of social media in promoting reform and or abolition in adoption discourse.