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American Adoption Congress

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The American Adoption Congress (AAC) was an international adoption-reform organization created in the late 1970s as an umbrella organization for adoption search, support, and reform groups. Initiated by Orphan Voyage founder Jean Paton, people representing many groups gathered in regions around the United States and began planning the incorporation. The first AAC Conference was held in Washington, DC in May 1979.[1] The second was in Anaheim, CA in 1980, and the third at the TWA Training facility outside Kansas City in 1981, where the AAC was reincorporated and gained 501(c)3 tax exempt status.[2] AAC conferences were held annually around the United States from 1979 until 2020, when the conference, its last, was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The American Adoption Congress represented the interests of individuals who identified as adopted people, birth parents, and adoptive parents, as well as individuals, families, and organizations committed to adoption reform. While it existed, the AAC promoted honesty, openness, and respect for family connections in adoption, foster care, and assisted reproduction, and it provided education to members and professional communities about the lifelong process of adoption. Until 2024, the AAC advocated for state legislation to grant every individual access to information about their family and heritage.[3][4]

In a letter dated July 25, 2024, AAC President Matt Naylor announced the dissolution of the organization effective in August 2024. According to the letter, "... we will be transferring our remaining assets, after all payables are distributed, to the Adoptees’ Liberty Movement Association (ALMA), in existence since 1971.  ALMA has pledged a continuance of legislative advocacy to restore unrestricted access to original birth certificates for all adult adopted persons, a cause the AAC continues to champion."

The AAC formally filed for dissolution with the Missouri Secretary of State on October 1, 2024.[5]

Conference history

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Year Dates Location Theme Keynotes
2016 March 30 - Apr 3 Denver, CO Trailblazing Change: Moving Mountains Together in Adoption

Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao
Amanda Transue-Woolston
Dr. Amanda Baden
Delores Teller
Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh
Kathleen Nielson
Mark Hagland

2015 March 26 - Apr 29 Cambridge, MA Education, Advocate, Legislate

Bennett Greenspan
Rhonda Roorda
David Smolin Rev. Dr. Nicholas Cooper-Lewter

2014 April 9–13 San Francisco, CA Building Bridges for Change

Lisa Marie Rollins
John Raible
Leslie Pate Mackinnon
Rickie Solinger
Zara Phillips

2013 April 10–14 Cleveland, OH Create the Next Wave

Adam Pertman
Thomas Rector
Dominique Moceanu & Jennifer Bricker
Gina Samuels
Jean Strauss & Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-IL)

2012 April 26–29 Denver, CO Mile High Expectations: Adoption in 2012

Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Sherrie Eldridge
Pekitta Tynes

2011 April 14–17 Orlando, FL Many Faces of Adoption

Ron Nydam
Mary Gauthier
Deann Liem
Susan Harris O'Conner
Rebecca Denton & Lynn Lauber
Mary Anne Alton

2010 March 18–21 Sacramento, CA Voices of Adoption: Speaking Our Truth, Restoring Our Rights

Jean Strauss
Deborah Jiang Stein
Cathy Lind Hayes
Carista Luminare
Delores Teller

2009 April 22–26 Cleveland, OH Transforming Families, Connecting Lives

Darryl McDaniels
Sharon Roszia
Dorothy Roberts
Joe Eszterhas & Suzanne Perryman
Jean Strauss
Paula Benoit

2008 March 26–29 Portland, OR Adoption in the Global Community: Redefining Kinship in the 21st Century

Sharon Roszia
David Brodzinsky
Kevin Campbell
Barbara Raymond

2007 March 7–10 Wakefield, MA Take the Freedom Trail to Truth in Adoption

Darryl McDaniels
Sandy Whitehawk
Gerald Mallon
Ann Fessler

2005 July 6–10 Las Vegas, NV Don’t Gamble with Truth in Adoption

Fr. Tom Brosnan
Adam Pertman
Russell Friedman
Jean Strauss

2004 March 31 - Apr. 4 Kansas City, MO Back To Our Roots

Ron Nydam
Marcy Axness
Alison Larkin

2003 April 2–5 Atlanta, GA AAC’s Silver Anniversary Conference

Jaiya John
Annette Baran
Lorraine Dusky

2002 April 10–14 Philadelphia, PA Let Freedom Ring

Jett Williams
Ruth Amerson
Betsy Forrest & Pam Hasegawa
Betty Jean Lifton
Rev. Dwight Wolter
Zara Phillips
Adam Pertman

2001 April 19–22 Anaheim, CA 2001 An Adoption Odyssey

Penny Callan Partridge & Ron Nydam
Adam Pertman
Joyce Maguire Pavao
Fr. Tom Brosnan
Annette Baran
Kris Probasco

2000 April 13–16 Nashville, TN Millennium Victories & Visions: A Celebration of Accomplishments, A Confirmation of Purpose, A Challenge to Continue

Patricia Martinez
Nancy Verrier
Joyce Maguire Pavao
Caprice East
Denny Gladd
Fred Greenman Jr.
Julie Sandine
Robert D. Tuke
Annette Baran

1999 May 13–16 McLean, VA Rights, Responsibilities, Reality Building Blocks for Adoption Reform

Susan Harris
Mi Ok Song Bruining
Ron Nydam

1998 April 2–5 Bellevue, WA Sounding New Depths, Exploring New Channels

Betty Jean Lifton
Joyce Maguire Pavao
Nancy Verrier
Carol Schaefer
Annette Baran
Penny Callan Partridge

1997 April 3–5 Irving, TX The Train to Open Records

Betty Jean Lifton
Joyce Maguire Pavao
Nancy Verrier
Carol Schaefer
Annette Baran
Penny Callan Partridge

1996 April 25–28 Baltimore, MD Coming of Age

Annette Baran
Rev. Thomas Brosnan
Reuben Pannor
Joyce Maguire Pavao
Barbara Tremitiere

1995 April 10–12 Las Vegas, NV Adoption: Laying Our Cards on the Table
1994 April 21–24 New Orleans, LA Jazzin' It Up in Adoption
1993 April 1–3 Cleveland, OH New Horizons in Adoption
1992 March 19–22 Philadelphia, PA We the People Proclaiming Liberty in Adoption
1991 April 10–14 Garden Grove, CA Sharpening the Focus on Adoption
1990 May 24–27 Chicago, IL Winds of Change: Adoption in the New Age
1989 April 5–9 New York, NY Illumination on Adoption
1988 April 28 - May 1 Calgary, Alberta Adoption Into the 90's
1987 May 28–30 Boston, MA
1984 May 31 - June 3 Seattle, WA Educate, Legislate & Emancipate
1983 May 19–22 Columbus, OH Come Grow With Us
1982 June 3–6 San Antonio, TX
1981 May 28–31 Overland Park, KS Open Minds, Open Records
1980 May 8–11 Anaheim, CA
1979 May 4–7 Washington, DC

References

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  1. ^ Official American Adoption Congress Website
  2. ^ "AAC History". Archived from the original on 2016-01-17. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
  3. ^ "OBC Access Support | Access Massachusetts OBC for MA". obcforma. Retrieved 2023-12-14.
  4. ^ Gass-Poore, Jordan. "Most American adoptees can't access their birth certificates. That could soon change". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  5. ^ "Missouri Secretary of State". Missouri Secretary of State Online Business Filing. 2024-10-01. Retrieved 2024-11-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)