32 Years Later:
The Legacy of Chinese Intercountry Adoption


by Isabella Kahn





















Emily Angeline (she/her)
Born in 1996, in Nanning, GuangxiEmily Angeline (she/her)
Born in 1996, in Nanning, Guangxi`m
Leanne Lieberhong (she/her)
Born in Jinchang, Gansu, 1995
Leah Reso (she/her)
Born in Duchang county, Jiangxi, 2000
C. Snare (he/him)
Born in Wuhan, Hubei, 1999
Eryn Feng (they/them)
Born in Fengcheng, Jiangxi, 2003
Grace Santoli (she/her)
Born in Dongguan, Guangdong, 2004
Caroline Walkup (she/her)
Born in Changsha, Hunan, 2004
Emily Angeline (she/her)
Born in Nanning, Guangxi, 1996
Margaret Myers-Aldous (she/her)
Born in Wanzhou, Chongqing, 2003
Zhao Gu Gammage (she/her)
Born in Wuwei, Gansu, 2003
Grace Blackmar (she/her)
Born in Yangjiang, 2002
Minla Stokes (she/her)
Born in Jiangxi, 2003
Li-Anne Wright
Born in Hunan, 2000
Ushika Kidd (she/her)
Born in Wuhan, Hubei, 2003
Brenna Mathers (she/her)
Born in Fengcheng, Jiangxi, 2002
Sophie O’Beirne (she/her)
Born in Jiangxi, 2003
Emilia Donovan (she/her)
Born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, 2001
Bridget Darling (they/she)
Born in Hunan, 2002
Kai Stokes (he/him)
Born in Shanghai, 2006
Eileen Myers-Aldous (she/her)
Born in Hechuan district, Chongqing, 2007
Anya Zaretsky  (she/her)
Born in Xuan’en County, Hubei, 2001
Olivia Worthington (she/her)
Born in Anhui, 2000
Elie Pearson (she/her)
Born in Fengcheng, Jiangxi, 2004
Rachel Shearer (she/her)
Born in Ningdu, Jiangxi, 1999
Megan Klein (she/her)
Born in Jiangxi, 2003

              32 Years Later: The Legacy of Chinese Intercountry Adoption is an ongoing series of portraits that focuses on themes of self-definition, growth, and resilience among Chinese transnational adoptees. Following the Chinese Government’s recent and sudden decision to end their foreign adoption policy, over 160,000 of us worldwide are now left to reflect on its three decades of history and nonexistent future. This conversation is extremely complex and important within contemporary dialogue, intersecting with issues of immigration, citizenship, and cultural representation. 32 Years Later recognizes the individuals impacted by the personal and political legacy of this history, analyzes how we as adoptees collectively fit under this shared identity, and celebrates the ways we have grown beyond it. For me, this represents one of the community’s many efforts to connect and heal as a diaspora of displaced peoples.



Isabella Kahn is a lens-based artist who was born in Jiangxi, China in 2003. She was adopted the following year and grew up in New Jersey. Her creative practice navigates the tension between her personal history and global memory as a transnational, transracial adoptee, highlighting themes of identity, displacement, and family. She is currently completing her Bachelors of Science in Photography at Drexel University.

Isabella has shown her work in several cities, including Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and London, and her work can be found in the International Center of Photography’s permanent collection. She has also co-curated photographic exhibitions at the Photography Gallery at the University of the Arts and the Copeland Gallery in South London.

Her other work can be viewed here.