PROJECTS

CARRYING is an intimate exploration of the experience of placing a child for adoption. This vérité film follows two pregnant women in their third trimester as they face the impossible decision of whether to raise their child or place them in the arms of another family. We are in Post-Production and plan to release the film in early 2026.

Utah Adoption Rights is a grassroots movement committed to ensuring that every mother considering adoption is safe from predatory adoption practices, informed about her rights and available resources, and empowered to make the choice that is right for her and her child. Founded in 2024.

Adoption Unfiltered authors Sara Easterly (adoptee), Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard (birth parent), and Lori Holden (adoptive parent) interview dozens of adoptees, birth parents, adoptive parents, social workers, therapists, and other allies—all sharing candidly about the challenges in adoption. While finding common ground in the sometimes-contentious space of adoption may seem like a lofty goal, it reveals the authors’ optimistic aim: working together with truth and transparency to move toward healing.

Healing isn’t possible, though, without first uncovering the hurts—starting with adoption’s central players: adoptees, who are so often in pain, suffering from what the latest brain science validates as the long-term emotional effects of separation trauma. By encouraging others to vulnerably share their stories, the authors discover that adoptees aren’t the only ones in the adoption constellation who are hurting. Birth parents regularly shut down after being shut out by adoptive parents. Adoptive parents often struggle with unique parenting challenges and hidden insecurity, feeling the need to hide the fact that they are not the Super Parents they led the agency to believe they would be. Across the industry as a whole, misinformed and even unethical practices abound.

Adoption Unfiltered models the importance of adults in adoption working together in the spirit of curiosity and empathy—to better support adoptees and their first and adoptive families. Adoption Unfiltered was published in December 2023 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Grab a hardcover or paperback at Bookshop, Amazon, or find a copy at your local library.

The first ever podcast for birth moms, by birth moms. Hosts Ashley Mitchell and Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard became birth moms in different decades, but nonetheless, the thread of sisterhood runs strong between them. Ashley and Kelsey address the real and raw emotion of what it means to live in the aftermath of the impossible choice of adoption. Frequently joined by other birth mom guests to capture the full picture of this unique life experience, they demonstrate the full range of this incredibly twisted sisterhood. Listen now on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Bridging the Gap: Preparing Expectant Parents for Open Adoption
Webinar

Bridging the Education Gap: Preparing Expectant Parents for Open Adoption

Minneapolis, MN

Is Adoption Reform a Missing Element in the Fight for Reproductive Justice?

Child Welfare and Adoption Policy Panel
Washington, D.C.

Judicial Considerations for Modern Adoption & Permanency
White Plains, NY

Unfiltering Adoption: What Leading Agencies Need to Know
Orlando, FL

Domestic Adoption Policy Briefing
Washington, D.C.

Stepping Out of Adoption’s Shadow

The Continued Impact of Unregulated Domestic Infant Adoption
National Council for Adoption
St. Louis, MO

Courageous Conversations to Lead the Way Toward True Openness

Domestic Adoption Policy Expert Panel
Washington, D.C.

Justice for All: Why Separate Legal Representation for Expectant Mothers Should Be Standard Practice
Indianapolis, IN

Impact and Implications of National Advertising

We’re Not “the Future” – We’re Doing it Now!