Birthparent Support Alliance

Make this the summer we all join together and Gather for Birthparents! From Memorial Day weekend to Labor day, we invite our community to join us in ensuring that every birthparent in need of support can access our comprehensive services and community.

By joining Gather Momentum, you can turn almost anything you already love to do into a fundraiser for the Birthparent Support Alliance: a walk with friends, a swim challenge, a birthday fundraiser, a yoga class, a neighborhood gathering, a book club, a pickleball tournament, or simply a goal that matters to you.

Every mile, every gathering, and every act of support helps us provide critical resources, community, and mental health support for birthparents and families navigating complex journeys.

No event is too small. No idea is too simple. If it brings people together, it can create change.

It couldn't be easier: join Gather Momentum here: https://birthparent-support-alliance.charityfootprints.com/gathermomentum2026
Then create your own fundraiser, based on whatever activities you already enjoy. Invite your community. Build momentum for families who deserve to feel seen, supported, and never alone. Together, we can turn passion into impact.

Not sure where to start? Visit the Gather Momentum website, where we've curated a quick list of ideas to spark your creativity! From karaoke night to yoga in the park, boardgame tournaments to pickleball, there is no end to what you can do to raise the funds necessary to ensure that every birthparent in need can find the support they deserve, without financial or geographical restraints. https://birthparentsupportalliance.org/events/

Happy Pride Month! While we say this throughout the year, this is a great moment to emphasize it: everyone is welcome here - at our events, at Shared Journeys Birthparent Collective services, supports, and community, and at Activism in Adoption sessions. Everyone is welcomed, celebrated, respected, encouraged, valued, and loved, here. Everyone.

In the adoption industry, language is very gendered, in ways that can alienate people don't fit neatly into a heterosexual, cis-gender category, making it even harder for some birthparents to find the help they need after placement. While we use terms like 'birthmother' or 'birthfather' in a lot of our material (because our language has to mirror that of the adoption industry for birthparents to find us), we are here for any person who gave birth and placed that child for adoption, or whose partner did, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or identity. The Birthparent Support Alliance is committed to fostering a community that understands the uniquely individual experiences that have brought each of us to adoption. We strive to be a diverse, equitable, and inclusive space in order to create a culture of safety and belonging for all of our stakeholders, one in which each voice is valued and heard.

ICYMI: our interview with May's AiA speaker Kate Stapleton of The Stapletons is now up on our site. If you have already registered, check your email for the link to her film, The Inner Sea, so you can screen it prior to her talk. https://activisminadoption.org/news.html/article/2026/05/20/the-inner-sea-a-conversation-with-filmmaker-kate-stapleton

If you haven't registered yet, there's still a few hours left!
https://activisminadoption.org/upcoming-zoom-sessions.html

This month's Activism in Adoption speaker is writer, musician, filmmaker, and birthmother Kate Stapleton of The Stapletons who is joining us to discuss her award winning film, The Inner Sea. We sat down with Kate this week to talk about what prompted her to create this documentary, the process of being a first-time filmmaker, and to get a little advice on how to pursue an abundantly creative life. https://activisminadoption.org/news.html/article/2026/05/20/the-inner-sea-a-conversation-with-filmmaker-kate-stapleton

Registration is still open for next week's Activism in Adoption Session, and attendees will have a chance to screen the film on their own schedule prior to hearing Kate speak. Don't miss your chance to watch this award-winning documentary, which looks at adoption from a birthparent point of view, and then join us for a conversation with it's creator. https://activisminadoption.org/upcoming-zoom-sessions.html

Tomorrow, Birthparent Support Alliance Executive Director Alexis Eyler, MSW, LSW, is leading a breakout session at Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute for Mental Health Education ’s 24th annual mental health conference, to talk about what grief and loneliness look like in birthparents, how their adoption-related grief shows up over time, and the mental health challenges they face after placement. She is also going to discuss the current gaps in post-placement support, including the ways in which birthparents may experience mental health vulnerabilities following relinquishment while remaining largely outside traditional postpartum screening and care pathways. Register here: https://www.eventzilla.net/e/24th-annual-community-mental-health-conferenceregistration-opens-april-13-2138676586