María Fernanda  she| her| ella

Co- Creator | Facilitator | Content Creator

María Fernanda was born in Quito, Ecuador in the mid 80's. She is Afro/Black Ecuadorian and Colombian. She was adopted from Ecuador to the U.S. by the age of 3 and raised in Texas. Her early separation from her birth country shaped many parts of her life growing up which is why she began the journey to search for truth. In 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, she found her first family through social media. The following year, she traveled to Ecuador for the first time in over 30 years to meet them. In 2024, she returned once again, this time reclaiming her Ecuadorian citizenship and deepening her connection to her roots.

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It was during the initial findings of her family, that María realized how deeply she longed for a community- to share stories, thoughts, feelings, experiences & offer mutual support. Her personal experience inspired her to co-create this community space for adult adoptees who have ties to a Latin country. As a transnational, intercounty adoptee, María understands the complex challenges of being disconnected from birth country, birth family and the importance of having a soft place to land. Post reunion, she began to deconstruct her adoption story and explore ways to heal individually and collectively with the community.