Understanding Your Teen: Adoption Through Their Eyes

This special episode is part of our Teens and Tweens Support Programme, funded by Adoption England, which supports adoptive parents as their children move into adolescence. It focuses on what adoption can feel like during the teenage years, drawing directly on the voices and experiences of adopted young people involved in Adopteens.

Adopteens is a peer support space for adopted teenagers, where they can meet others with shared experiences, talk openly, and build connections outside of adult-led environments.

Join Annalisa Toccara-Jones as she speaks with Sadie and Nat from Adopteens about how they understand adoption as they grow older, and how it shows up across friendships, school and identity. They reflect on what it means to connect with other adopted teens, and why peer spaces can offer a sense of recognition that is often harder to find elsewhere.

Their conversation explores how adoption is talked about at home and in education settings, including what feels supportive and where adult assumptions can miss the mark. It also considers the role of social media in shaping how adoption is seen and understood, alongside questions of control, consent and representation for young people.

This episode offers grounded, practical insight for parents looking to better understand their teenager’s experience of adoption, and how to support open, respectful conversations as their child grows.

Contact We Are Family & the Adoption Shared Team:
Tweet us @WAFadoption #AdoptionShared
Tweet Eddie @Eddielliott
Email us hello@wearefamilyadoption.org.uk

Join us www.wearefamilyadoption.org.uk

We prioritise the privacy of guests and their children. All identifying information has been changed or removed. We provide guidance to all guests about how and whether details of their adoption journey and their children’s stories are shared.