Co-Sponsors
The 5th Biennial Adoption Conference was preceded by 4 previous conferences.

The First Biennial Adoption Conference
October 21, 2000
The Adoption Journey: Psychological, Socio-Political, and Legal Challenges

The First Biennial Adoption Conference took place in 2000 at the St. John's University Queens Campus. This conference addressed the psychological, sociological, socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and legal implications of adoption for the adoption triad (adopted persons, birth families, and adoptive families). Through that conference, mental health and human service

The Second Biennial Adoption Conference
September 21, 2002
The Lifelong Adoption Journey: Through the Eyes of the Adopted

The Second Biennial Adoption Conference took place in 2002 again at the St. John's University Queens Campus. At that conference, we continued the dialogue from the first conference, and we explored the lifespan adoption issues and concerns of adopted persons were examined based on the experiences of four panels of adopted persons who were also psychologists, social workers, business people, adoption advocates, journalists, and filmmakers.

The Third Biennial Adoption Conference
October 15 and 16, 2004
The Dynamics of Adoption: A Three-Way Mirror


The Third Biennial Adoption Conference was the first in our series to be held at the St. John's University Manhattan Campus as well as the first to include an evening film screening on the Friday evening prior to the full-day conference held on a Saturday. Montclair State University became a co-sponsor of the event for the first time. In this conference, we facilitated a dialogue that allowed conference attendees to hear directly from adoptive parents, birthparents, and adoptees as well as from therapists with expertise in adoption who will assist in better understanding the dynamics that occur within adoption triads. Representatives of the adoption triad explored the overt and the covert dialogue that occurs between adoptive parents and birthparents throughout adoptees’ lives.

The Fourth Biennial Adoption Conference
October 13 and 14, 2006
Families Without Borders? Adoption Across Culture and Race

The Fourth Biennial Adoption Conference was also held at the St. John's University Manhattan Campus and was again co-sponsored by Montclair State University as well as by other organizations. This was the first conference to run for two full days as well as one of the first academic and research-based conferences to solely address issues of transracial adoption. This conference focused on transracial and transcultural adoption. Our continually growing conference featured two days of speakers, workshops and presentations as well as a screening and discussion of several films Friday evening.

The Fifth Biennial Adoption Conference
October 24 and 25, 2008
Identity and the Adopted Teen: Surviving the Crucible of Adolescence

The Fifth Biennial Adoption Conference is being held at the St. John's University Manhattan Campus and will again be a two-day event. We are currently in the planning stages for this event.