From the use of the term “Childless Cat Ladies” to no mention of Child Welfare Reform by either candidate, I have to say this election cycle has been a bit lackluster for me. Now, don’t get me wrong. I get just as fired up about some of the same overarching hot-bed items as anyone else. And it is a big deal to me as a Black woman in America that we are witnessing something I’d often wonder if I’d see in my lifetime: a woman—not to mention, a woman of Color—on the ticket.

But there is still something missing for me.

I’m an adoptee. While the candidates don’t have to be just like me, I do wish they were talking about issues that matter to me—and to God, as we know from Isaiah 1:17, “Learn to do good, seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” And this has me questioning why I never hear about issues of child welfare discussed by either presidential candidate.

In a recent conversation with fellow adoptees, we lamented that you can’t turn on the TV or stream your favorite show without some element of adoption or child welfare being a part of the story. With these issues so much a part of our daily lives, why aren’t the candidates speaking about how they will address the needs of children and families involved in the system? Why is it that adoptees, their stories, and the emotional effects of adoption are on display every day in the media, but it’s still a silent issue no one in Washington wants to talk about?

Unbeknownst to many in our society, there is a growing movement among adult adoptees to speak out about the effects that adoption has had on our lives. From adoptee Twitter/X to adoptee Instagram and adoptee TikTok, adults who were adopted as children are taking to these and other platforms to speak out about the complexities that come with not being raised primarily by our biological relatives. Adoptees can deal with lifelong effects such as struggles with attachment, complex-PTSD, and even Survivor’s Remorse. Sounds like we are treating veterans of some type of war, huh? These effects on adults who have been adopted and/or involved with the foster care system have been substantiated and are real.

With the adoptee community’s voice stronger than ever before, it is clear that issues related to child welfare are important not only to me, but I dare say, to many other people, as well. Together with a bunch of my fellow adoptees, I wonder, what are we doing about this system here in America?

Recently, China stopped all international adoptions. This is a big deal, and should have prompted discussion from everyone, whether they are affected by adoption and foster care or not. Many of us in the adoptee community saw this as a major victory. (Go figure, a community that is supposed to be “grateful” for what we have “gained” from the system of adoption was largely celebrating as adoptions were being stopped.) While there are a range of feelings about adoption reform—from those who believe the entire system should be abolished to those who seek only minor reforms—most agree that the system of adoption has effects on those who live it, and not only for adoptees, but first parents and adoptive parents, as well.

In a recent conversation, a child welfare reform scholar eloquently reminded me of the many people who daily work in the trenches to make reforms to the child welfare system. There are stakeholder organizations and child welfare advocates working right now to reevaluate the Adoption and Safe Families Act. Legislative efforts are currently underway for the Adoption Deserves Oversight, Protection, & Transparency (ADOPT) Act HR 6220, which seeks to strengthen the oversight of private adoption and protect people from unscrupulous adoption brokers. There is also much conversation going on to protect Social Security benefits for youth in foster care, as well as the Adoption Counts HR 6700, which would reinstate the federal data collection of private adoption, which is the privatized provision of child welfare and a public issue.

It is clear to me that issues of child welfare, adoption, misattributed parentage (and the list goes on!) are important in this election cycle. I just ask that we all take a look at these issues and call on our presidential candidates and other elected officials to speak on their stances publicly. These should not be issues only portrayed in the media and shared in adoptee spaces. We need representation in Washington.