03/09/2026
A Statement from the National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP) Board of Directors
September 3, 2026
The Untangling Our Roots Summit was born from a beautiful vision — that adoptees, NPEs, donor-conceived people, and all those whose lives have been shaped by family complexity share something profound: the search for identity, truth, and connection. Leslie Mackinnon, LCSW, brought that vision to life and brought our organizations together to serve it. We are grateful for every conference, every speaker, and every person who trusted us with their story.
Today we are sharing something difficult. After four years of co-creating and co-hosting the Untangling Our Roots Summit alongside Right To Know, NAAP is withdrawing from the UTOR partnership. NAAP will no longer be part of the Untangling Our Roots Summit. What was built together, as we knew it, has come to an end for NAAP.
This was not a decision we made quickly or lightly. When the path forward became unclear, we chose to stay committed to the values and roots that seeded this organization.
To every person who attended UTOR, who spoke, who volunteered, who shared their story — Thank you! We want you to know how much we appreciate you and what you brought to this gathering. The connections formed across our communities are real and they belong to you. The friendships between adoptees, NPEs, donor-conceived people, and all those navigating questions of identity and family — those are yours to keep. You will always be welcome here. NAAP’s door is open to everyone whose life has been shaped by adoption, assisted reproduction, donor conception, or unexpected DNA discoveries.
NAAP is an accountable organization committed to keeping adoptee voices at the center in everything we do and in every partnership we pursue. We advocate for equity, for transparency, and for the principle that adoptees, birth parents and first families — however you name that experience — deserve to be seen and served by an organization dedicated to them. We know that each person names their own experience and we respect that. You are seen here. You belong here.
NAAP has been gathering this community together since 2017 — full multi-day national conferences, regional retreats, and six years of free weekly programming that began when COVID cancelled our 2020 conference and we launched Adoption Happy Hour rather than go dark. Conference building and community gathering is in our DNA.
Our free monthly programs continue. Our legislative advocacy continues. And in April 2027, NAAP will host its National Conference in Indianapolis — Rooted. Reaching. Rising. — built by the organization that has always put the adoption constellation at the center.
To Leslie Mackinnon — your vision brought real healing to real people. We carry it with us.
Building Unity in Our Community is not just our tagline. It is our promise. And we will continue to honor that promise — with integrity, transparency, and accountability.
With love and unwavering commitment,
Jennifer Fahlsing, Co-Founder & President
Beth Steury, Treasurer
Lori Wagner Knisely, Secretary
Barbara Robertson, Board Member
Ann Mire Mikeska, Board Member
Alicia Williams, Board Member
Patricia Ann Knight Meyer, Board Member
National Association of Adoptees & Parents (NAAP)
www.naapunited.org
Building Unity in Our Community
Also signed by NAAP’s Senior Advisors:
Marcie Keithley, Co-Founder & Past President, NAAP
Leslie Mackinnon, LCSW — Birth Parent Advocate, Therapist, and Founding Visionary of Untangling Our Roots
Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed.D., LCSW, LMFT — Pioneering Family Therapist, Lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Founder of the Center for Family Connections, Author of The Family of Adoption, Congressional Angels in Adoption Award Recipient, and Adult Adoptee
