On the latest episode of Conversation Piece with Patrick Armstong, adoptee influencer and educator Taylor Shennett joins the podcast. Adopted from Hunan, China at nine months old, Shennet began creating adoption related content in 2012.
Hear what Shennett has to say about having more empathy in the adoptee community and how empathy offered her a different perspective on birth parents.
Listen with empathy
For more than a decade, Shennett has been sharing adoption content to help educate adoptive parents and adoptees feel seen and heard. Her adoption story garnered more than 11 million views on TikTok alone. Shennett began sharing more personal videos about her adoption experience after people began asking more questions.
When asked about what she feels is still missing from the conversations she has had around adoption and the adoptee experience, Shennett says it is empathy from listeners. “ I think a lot of adoptees could relate as they’re sharing their personal experience… the amount of hate comments and lack of respect… and the fact that we can’t fit that one mold of that one happy adoptee drives people crazy.”
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Having empathy from listeners is not restricted to those outside the adoptee community. Rather, Shennett hopes that “as an adoptee community, [we] need to be okay that someone else is okay with something we’re not… I’m going to support you even if I personally don’t agree. That’s personally not my lived experience, but that’s okay. Everyone has a different experience.”
Unintentionally putting other people who are different from what you or expect can be very harmful. A judgemental or negative reaction could cause the person being vulnerable to then refuse to explore their own identity, to go through rejection, and be more…
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