The holiday season asks a lot of us. Calendars fill up, and stressors often do, too—perhaps to a greater degree while in the midst of an ongoing pandemic and its continued hardships and losses.

Additionally, adoptees often wrestle with the holidays in unique ways. Are our birth/first families thinking of us? What holidays do they celebrate, and what are their traditions? If we’re in open adoptions or reunion, our loyalties may feel split between two families, or we sometimes wonder where we belong. For those of us late discovery adoptees (LDAs), we may question childhood holiday memories as we contrast them with new information received later in life.

Such were the circumstances under which adoptee-writers met for a four-week holiday mini-session. Together, we wrote our way through the holidays. Some of our adoptee-writers have chosen to share their words for the latest issue of the Adoptee Voices e-Zine, Solstice.

Solstice means a turning point. As you will see when you read their stories, these writers have reached a turning point—whether through greater understanding of their experiences as adoptees or in finding the courage to share their words. Reading through this issue, you’ll notice themes of heartbreak alongside themes of hope; suffering alongside strength; lament alongside manifestos.

These dualities embody the experience of the winter solstice—according to adoptee-writer Julian Washio-Collette, a time “we steep ourselves in darkness and quiet, anticipating and celebrating the coming light.” Please join us on this journey, and may you find comfort in the experiences and words of these adoptee-writers.