Adoption, Resilience and the Importance of Stories: The Making of a Film about Teenage Adoptees

Abstract

Adolescence is a critical time for adoptees because it highlights themes of identity, belonging and attachment. The Post Adoption Resource Centre in Sydney, Australia, ran a group for teenage adoptees in which they created a film about being adopted. The group process assisted participants to explore and enrich their narratives of adoption in the company of their peers. To tell a coherent story of one's life is developmentally important and closely tied with identity formation, attachment and resilience. Helen Fitzhardinge presents key themes that arose from the film project and explains why narratives are important in adoption.