An estimated 428,000 children are in foster care in the United States. More than sixty percent of them remain in foster care for two-to-five years before being adopted, with a significant percentage never being adopted at all. Furthermore, all of the children and teens who enter foster care have previously been “abused, neglected or abandoned” in their previous homes, and nearly half of first-time foster families quit the program because they feel ill-equipped for reasons ranging from lack of support to insufficient training.
Margaret Fink is an adoptive mother who was inspired by her own experiences to form the non-profit Transfiguring Adoption in order to help other adoptive and foster families support the children under their care who suffer from trauma. Her inspiration stemmed from a visit to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and its Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park based on the popular book and film series.
“We were reading the first chapter of The Sorcerer’s Stone to help the kids get to know characters and stories we’d see in the parks, while also helping them develop their reading and imaginative play skills,” she explained in 2019. “All of a sudden one of our children began to tear up. This particular child never discussed past trauma and had difficulty recognizing both physical and emotional states, such as being hungry, tired, happy, sad, or mad. We asked what was going on and the child said, ‘I know how Harry Potter feels,’ and was then able to start talking more about past trauma and experiences because of that.”
The moment inspired Margaret Fink and her family to create online discussion guides on the various ways that the Harry Potter books can help traumatized children and accelerate the healing process. “What happens with the books and the discussion questions is kids are able to relate to the characters and then talk about their trauma and past hurts in a non-threatening way,” Fink said. “They can talk about the characters without even talking about themselves but yet process their trauma in a healthy way and connect to their caregivers while doing so.”
Although Margaret Fink and her family became true believers in the power of stories to make a difference, they also recognized the inherent difficulties for other families to find the right narratives. “It isn’t always easy to find media our children can relate to or which does not contain damaging trauma triggers,” Fink continued. “There are lots of great books at the library or Barnes & Noble with storylines like, ‘Mommy had you in her belly, and we brought you home from the hospital, and we love you forever,’ but those aren’t our kids’ stories. There are great pieces of media they can relate to, however, so we began creating book, song, and movie lists for families, reviewing the media as we are able, and creating discussion guides. What started as a simple family blog grew into so much more.”
That “so much more” was Transfiguring Adoption, a non-profit founded in 2015. The organization’s online presence went silent in 2023 but during the intermittent years, Transfiguring Adoption not only continued publishing discussion guides but developed a subscription service featuring in-depth reviews that spotlighted both the helpful and harmful aspects of new films, books, and video games.
A nationwide volunteer network organized by Transfiguring Adoption was likewise formed, conducting annual drives that provided nightlights to help children feel safe in a stranger’s home.
“This small act has gotten rave reviews from the agencies that are recipients and is a simple way for the public to have a big impact on children,” Margaret Fink explained of the program. “One Florida foster mom even sent Transfiguring Adoption an email telling about a teen foster son who was scared of the dark due to past trauma. The mom recalled how the boy felt safe and understood when she could produce a nightlight after the boy, expressing embarrassment, told her about his fear.”
While such endeavors are action-oriented and reaped positive results, Transfiguring Adoption also recognized the efforts of individual adoptive parents and foster care homes across the country. “We are quite proud of our work with actor Chris Rankin – aka Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter films – to create the ‘Chris Rankin Award for the Best Adoptive Parent,’” Margaret Fink said. “The fall time award also has a sister award for foster parents in the spring. Both are annual events in which the public can nominate people who they think are deserving of the titles. The public also votes on the winner. The award is a great way to highlight to the public the parents who are therapeutically helping children who are going through difficult situations. The awards also serve to encourage parents who are unsung heroes.”
Within the world of Harry Potter, “transfiguring” is a branch of magic that alters the form or appearance of an object. The house-elf Doby, meanwhile, was granted his freedom when Harry Potter tricked Doby’s master Lucius Malfoy into giving the elf a sock – receiving an article of clothing from their master is the only way for an elf to end its servitude. Transfiguring Adoption named its national network of volunteers the Elf Squad and served as the organization’s “socks on the ground.”
The subtle implications of both references imply that the trauma experienced by children in adoptive and foster care can be transformed and potentially mitigated – freeing the child in the process – through popular culture narratives like Harry Potter. “The Harry Potter series contains several characters whom many foster and adoptive children can relate to well,” Margaret Fink explains. “Harry, Neville, and Tom Riddle are all being raised by people other than their birth parents, causing many internal questions and conflicts which foster and adoptive children relate to. Aside from this point, the series touches on so many issues which children and adolescents in general face as it covers seven years of development in the lives of the characters. This allows families an opportunity to use the Harry Potter narratives to experience the bonding and healing discussions that media can create.”
While it unclear as to why Transfiguring Adoption went silent in 2023, there can be no doubt that during the organization’s short existence it made a difference in the lives of foster care children, adoptive parents, and foster care families in a unique and inventive way, leaving behind a legacy to be proud of in the process.
Anthony Letizia