Cofounder and president of L’Hybridé, a Quebec-based organization for international adoptees, Manuelle Alix-Surprenant advocates for adoptees to reclaim their narratives and unite their diverse voices in order to be heard by international adoption decision-making bodies. She is the first adoptee on the consultation board of the Quebec government’s Secrétariat à l’adoption internationale. With a fellow adoptee she also wrote La couleur de l’adoption, a book to be launched in March 2018 that presents 38 portraits of international adoptees.

Born in South Korea, Manuelle Alix-Surprenant was transracially adopted at the age of 8 months. Her travels to her country of birth and a reconnection with her biological mother led her to reassess her definition of identity and her awareness of power dynamics in adoption.

After 10 years of professional experience in the fields of immigration, board diversity, youth policies and communication, Manuelle Alix-Surprenant is a master’s student in anthropology at the Université de Montréal. Her research focuses on alternatives to international adoption in countries of origin, focusing on youth in institutions in Haiti.

Learn more about her work here:

• L’Hybridé
• La couleur de l’adoption