Is it okay to ask an adoptee “Do you know your real parents?”

Summary: Adoptees all have different experiences when it comes to family. We might assume some parents are "real" and others aren't — and that anyone who doesn't know their birth parents is searching for them. But no one term or story fits for everyone who's adopted. Elena and Harv talk to podcaster Kristen Meinzer about what's behind the word "real" and the myth that all adoptive parents are great parents. Adoption advocate Tony Hynes shares his story of growing up as a Black child raised by two white moms, while staying connected to his birth family. And Raven Sinclair, a professor of social work who was adopted as part of the Sixties Scoop, talks about reconnecting with her birth family and culture, and how social systems incentivize the removal of Indigenous children from their families.