Are you, or is someone you know, an adoptee between the ages of 18 and 36 who was raised in a family that identified at least in part as Jewish?

In the coming year, we will be gathering stories from young adult adoptees raised in American Jewish families. This effort is part of a research study by the Adoption and Jewish Identity Project (AJIP), which aims to improve the lives of Jewish adoptive families by creating broader understanding of the unique religious, cultural, and identity issues they face.

Adoptees will be able to share their experiences and perspectives in a variety of formats. Anyone may submit his/her story either in writing or using other media (audio, video). We will also be conducting 15-20 in-depth interviews with selected individuals, as well as a number of focus groups. The collected stories will be used (either anonymously or for attribution, depending on your wishes) for a book about the complex identities of adoptees raised in American Jewish families.

If you are an adoptee interested in sharing your story, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AJIPAdopteeQuestionnaire to tell us a little bit about yourself, and we’ll be back in touch with you with more details.

If you know adoptees who might be interested in participating, please send them this announcement and link to the online questionnaire, and invite them to participate.

We will keep all information provided in these questionnaires completely confidential. Adoptees will be given the opportunity to choose whether to be identified by name or to remain anonymous in any publications or products that result from this project.

Please note: Adoptees do not have to identify currently as Jewish in order to participate.

Questions? Please email us at adoptionandjewishidentity@gmail.com.

The Adoption and Jewish Identity Project is dedicated to improving the lives of adoptees raised in Jewish families by creating broader understanding of the unique religious, cultural, and identity issues they and their families face. AJIP is directed by Dr. Jennifer Sartori and Dr. Jayne Guberman. Sartori is associate director of Jewish Studies at Northeastern University, and Guberman is an independent scholar and oral history consultant.

This post has been contributed by a third party. The opinions, facts and any media content are presented solely by the author, and JewishBoston assumes no responsibility for them. Want to add your voice to the conversation? Publish your own post here. MORE