Adopted children are likely to be allowed much closer contact with their birth families in the future as part of “seismic” changes recommended in a report published today. Some families say the changes are long overdue - but others worry they may deter people from adopting.

"At our first meeting she just looked at me and my husband with such intensity and then broke out in a smile and that was it... we all looked at each other and said 'yes this is our family'," recalls Rachel beaming.

The United States has brought hundreds of thousands of children from abroad to be adopted by American families. But along the way it left thousands of them without citizenship, through a bureaucratic loophole that the government has been aware of for decades, and hasn’t fixed.

China has announced that it is ending the practice of allowing children to be adopted overseas, bringing uncertainty to families currently going through the process.

As a mother who adopted a child, Cam Lee Small’s story resonates with me. A variety of emotions are present through the adoption journey for the parents and adopted children alike.

A woman has revealed how she tracked down her biological parents and discovered she was half black - almost 24 years after being adopted.

At an empty concrete lot in southwest China, Loulee Wilson scoops a handful of stones into a bag –- a memento from the site where she believes she was abandoned as a baby.

I have never thought to openly discuss my adoption story or its unsolicited mental health baggage. Thinking about it, no one has asked. I don’t blame them. It’s personal but also seems odd, given (almost) everyone is getting curious about exploring their mental health.

DeVries believes adoption has strengthened her family.