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
Kiera McCabe (she/her)
Chongqing, 1997
May Braaten (she/her)
Zhouzhou, Hunan, 2002
Leanne Lieberhong (she/her)
Jinchang, Gansu, 1995
Leah Reso (she/her)
Duchang county, Jiangxi, 2000
C. Snare (he/him)
Wuhan, Hubei, 1999
Eryn Feng (they/them)
Fengcheng, Jiangxi, 2003
Grace Santoli (she/her)
Dongguan, Guangdong, 2004
Caroline Walkup (she/her)
Changsha, Hunan, 2004
Emily Angeline (she/her)
Nanning, Guangxi, 1996
Margaret Myers-Aldous (she/her)
Wanzhou, Chongqing, 2003
 Grace Blackmar (she/her)
Yangjiang, 2002
Zhao Gu Gammage (she/her)
Wuwei, Gansu, 2003
Katie Mastriano (she/her)
Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, 2000
Li-Anne Wright
Hunan, 2000
Ushika Kidd (she/her)
Wuhan, Hubei, 2003
Brenna Mathers (she/her)
Fengcheng, Jiangxi, 2002
Sophie O’Beirne (she/her)
Jiangxi, 2003
Emilia Donovan (she/her)
Guangzhou, Guangdong, 2001
Bridget Darling (they/she)
Hunan, 2002
Kim Liebler (she/her)
Wuhan, Hubei, 1996
Eileen Myers-Aldous (she/her)
Hechuan district, Chongqing, 2007
Anya Zaretsky  (she/her)
Xuan’en County, Hubei, 2001
Olivia Worthington (she/her)
Anhui, 2000
Elie Pearson (she/her)
Fengcheng, Jiangxi, 2004
Rachel Shearer (she/her)
Ningdu, Jiangxi, 1999
Megan Klein (she/her)
Jiangxi, 2003
Sarah Wolfe (she/her)
Guiping, Guangxi, 2005
Minla Stokes (she/her)
Jiangxi, 2003
Celeste Bloom (she/they)
Dongguan, Guangdong, 2002
Kai Stokes (he/him)
Shanghai, 2006
Annie Morgan (she/her)
Guangdong, Guangzhou , 2005

              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.