Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Adoption, But Didn't Know Who to Ask.

​​Rev. Dr. Janine Vance, also known as Janine Myung Ja, is a prolific author and advocate. She has written extensively on Eastern Philosophy, meditation, and the additional burdens of adoption. Her notable works include Adoption History: An Adoptee’s Research, The Search for Mother Missing: A Peek Inside International Adoption, and her memoir Twins Found in a Box: Adapting to Adoption (2003), which have won international awards. Janine has penned several books and feature-length screenplays that explore the intersections of child trafficking and overseas adoption, as well as the broader cultural, social, and political implications of the adoption industry, and also curated Adoptionland: from Orphans to Activists.

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A recognized authority in her field, Janine has been interviewed and featured across various media outlets, including BBC, Huffington Post, Brainz Magazine, and Northwest Asian Weekly. Her books have earned multiple accolades, including first place in Adventure and gold and silver awards in the categories of Government/Politics, Social Issues, and Non-Fiction Anthology.

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As an advocate for inherent human rights, Janine established the Adoption Truth and Transparency Worldwide Information Network (ATTWIN) in 2011 with her twin. This network offers peer support for adopted people, families separated by adoption, and parents of loss to discuss related issues. In 2022, she served as executive director of Against Child Trafficking to bring to fruition the pioneering Adoption Trafficking Awareness Symposium at the Washington State History Museum with her twin. Together, the sisters are commonly referred to as the Vance Twins.

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Janine’s work in adoption extends to her personal journey. Adopted from Seoul, South Korea, in 1972, the Vance Twins submitted their adoption file to Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2022. Numerous adoptees from Korea have already learned that their adoptions were "illegal" and a "serious human rights violation."

 

Since 2004, Vance has been a vocal critic of the mental dysfunction called the “savior complex” stemming from the Evangelical Orphan Movement. As an inherent human rights proponent and one who advocates for God-given and natural laws, Rev. Dr. Vance disapproves of the overseas child market led by evangelical missionaries who have profited from the multi-billion dollar Adoption and Child Welfare industry. Rev. Dr. Vance has zero tolerance for charities that commodify children, especially those who claim they did it for Jesus.

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“One of the worst things you can do to a person is claim they were ‘orphaned’ and ‘abandoned’ and then permanently sever them from their living and loving mother, biological family, community, culture, and country of birth.  And then claiming that ‘God’ told them to do it, using it as a tool for political authority, and making a charitable profit from committing devastation against the family is even more deplorable. It's exploitive, and it's an abuse of power over the most vulnerable among us.”​

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To explore VANCE's writing and philosophy, JanineVance.com ​