Speaking Truth to Power About Trauma Education

There is no denying the multibillion dollar industry that has profited from taking, trafficking, and turning children into commodities. The industry has also victimized millions of men and women, mothers and fathers around the world. For over 400 years, this industry has gotten away with crimes against humanity, while the world celebrates it as adoption. Taking the first step towards the truth is asking “what is adoption?” The further you go in redefining it for yourself, the more you learn about the global child supply market and the less you feel the need to deny the truth and defend this criminal industry. It takes times, patience, and commitment to deprogram yourself from the industry’s propaganda and brainwashing tactics. Read my articles, “The Illusion of Adoption is Over” and “I Stopped Calling it Adoption, Now What?” to learn more about deprogramming.

In 2021, the Adoption Trauma Factsheet was released. It’s designed as a conversation starter, providing introductory information, and acts as a bridge between adoption and the truth behind it. At that time, survivors of the industry were advocating to have their trauma acknowledged in the mainstream society. Many questioned whether adoption causes trauma. This went against the established dominant belief and obvious biased research proving overwhelming positive outcomes. But what was being covered up? What was the industry keeping out of the mainstream narrative about adoption?

At this point, the trauma-informed movement has reshaped our understanding of trauma. Behavior-based diagnoses have been replaced with terms like Complex-PTSD and Developmental Trauma. While some mental health professionals continue using Reactive Attachment Disorder, it has mostly been replaced with brain-based and neurological models. These models have revealed how the mother-child bond forms through their biochemical link during pregnancy. The stress and trauma mothers experience as they are being targeted, groomed, and coerced to “give up the child for adoption” and even being told “adoption is an option” does get passed through the biochemical link to the unborn child. Contrary to popular belief, the attachment is interrupted during pregnancy, not after the baby is born.

The Adoption Trauma Factsheet is free to download and available in English, Korean, and Spanish.
A factsheet for birth/first mothers is free to download. Developed in partnership with CUB.

What Makes Our Trauma Unique?

What makes our trauma unique is the fact we are victims of a global child supply market. This market was built from a criminal industry that profits from buying and selling people. Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit. Men, women and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world. - United Nations

The nonprofit organization, Against Child Trafficking, developed their own factsheets that puts adoption into the context of human trafficking and helps clarify a few of the biggest misconceptions about adoption. Through this framework, adoption is not a child welfare solution to a child placement issue. It’s not about alternative ways to create a family, or about a person’s right to a child. Being adopted means you’ve become a victim of a global criminal industry, a worldwide network of millions in one of the largest child supply chains that’s legally operating today.

Victims who are just waking up to the truth of what happened to them are often isolated and unaware of a vast and active community of others who are impacted by the industry. Many survivors are searching on their own, in secrecy, with no real sense of where to go or who to trust. What makes it even more challenging to navigate is that the industry is constantly bombarding the public with its propaganda and brainwashing tactics.

This is why I offer therapy, consultations, and professional trainings. As a trauma therapist, I take a psycho-educational approach to deprogram from the industry’s brainwashing, work through the layers of trauma, and arrive at the truth and renewed sense of self and purpose. Through my consultations, I’ve connected with victims, other mental health professionals, as well as authors, researchers, filmmakers and activists. Together, we explore resources, strategize advocacy campaigns, create awareness campaigns, and support victims through a variety of legal proceedings. Trainings are a much needed resource for victims and their allies to arm with the truth, facts, and insights that challenge and dispel the misinformation and propaganda. I recently gave a training at an Annual Summit for Korean American Mental Health Professionals November, 2025.

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