Unlocking the Heart of Adoption

Director/Writer: Sheila Ganz
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated

The lifelong adoption experience is revealed through personal interviews with adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents. The impact of adoption on a diverse group of adoption triad members is explored: transracial and same race adoptions; open and closed adoption; adoptees and birth parents that have reunited with birth relatives; and adoption experiences from different eras. All of these stories are interwoven with the filmmaker’s own experience as a birth mother.

Points to Consider

• This documentary took 14 years for Shelia Ganz to make.
• Generally, birth parents are the most under represented triad member. Most often, we hear about adoption from the perspective of adoptive parents or adoptees.
  

What Do You Think?

• What feelings came up for you as you watched this documentary? How has viewing this documentary changed any of your ideas about the adoption experience? What do you think is the best way to communicate these new ideas to people who have not watched this documentary?
  
• “When I realized social forces were behind my having no choice but to surrender my daughter for adoption, I threw my guilt away. And I forgave myself for not being able to defend myself or keep her. This freed me to speak out for the truth. It’s hard to know why some adoptees welcome their birth parents and others do not. But, I do have hope that some day we’ll be part of each other’s lives. Every year I send her a birthday card and let her know that I will always love her.” How do you feel about what Shelia says? What was your reaction to hearing birth parents’ perspectives in this documentary?
• What kind of support would have helped each of the participants in their journey? How do you think society’s opinion has affected people’s abilities to explore and integrate their adoption experience? What can we do to ensure that society is more supportive of exploring this experience and providing effective support?