Svetlana Sandoval is an International Adoptee from Russia. She was adopted to the U.S. during the peak wave of international adoptions in the late 90s. Svetlana will share her experience of growing up as an international adoptee, and how her understanding of adoption evolved throughout her teens and young adulthood. Svetlana is in reunion with her birthmother and family in Russia, and will share the complexities of navigating a virtual reunion across language and cultural barriers. She will also share how misinformation from her adoption agency left her unaware of her native citizenship status and how dual citizenship has brought additional complexities to traveling to meet her family in person. Svetlana has spent the last two years reclaiming her immigrant identity and will share about her immigrant community experiences and choice to reclaim her original name. Svetlana is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work and will share how her adoptee and immigrant identities have informed her academic path to support international adoptees on their journeys.