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 explains. “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 elaborates. “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 continues. “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 not only continues the efforts of the original discussion guides but has developed a subscription service featuring in-depth reviews that spotlight both the helpful and harmful aspects of new films, books and video games. A nationwide volunteer network organized by Transfiguring Adoption, meanwhile, conducts annual drives providing 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 explains of the nightlight 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 all of these endeavors are action-oriented and have reaped positive results, Transfiguring Adoption also spotlights 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 says. “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.”
Although Transfiguring Adoption coordinates a wide-range of activities and spotlights numerous films and books in its online discussion guides, Harry Potter has had the greatest impact on its evolution. Within the world of Harry Potter, for instance, “transfiguring” is a branch of magic that alters the form or appearance of an object. A national network of volunteers, meanwhile, are known as the Elf Squad and serve as Transfiguring Adoption’s “socks on the ground.” The house-elf Doby, introduced in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 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.
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 pop 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.”
For anyone familiar with the fandom, it should be of no surprise that Harry Potter fans are extremely supportive of Transfiguring Adoption. “Many fans have expressed that they were foster youth or they were adopted, the book had helped them, and they wish their parents had had our resources to help walk them through their experiences using media they loved,” Fink continues. “Other fans simply love the opportunity to help children and families while geeking out with our super cool, fandom-inspired swag. Fans have joined the cause as devoted volunteers who have played a huge role in making Transfiguring Adoption what it is today and without whom we could not do all we do!”
Although Transfiguring Adoption has found success with its endeavors, it has likewise had its fair share of challenges through the years as well – the biggest of which is having to rely exclusively on volunteers to operate the organization. “As we all have other jobs in order to meet our financial responsibilities, Transfiguring Adoption tends to get what is left over,” Margaret Fink explains. “It has been difficult to gain forward momentum and reach our goals because of this. While we have helped many people, we will feel we have found success when we are funded to a point where we can have paid, full-time staff whose passions for seeing healing in children are being realized.”
For this reason, donations are important for Transfiguring Adoption as an organization. A $60 donation, for instance, not only helps the non-profit pay reviewers but allows a foster family to have access to the ever-evolving list of films, books and video games that can be used to connect with the children under their care.
Like with any non-profit, Transfiguring Adoption also needs new blood beyond its founders in order to continue to make a difference in the long run. “As long as new people join our group and take a passion in helping foster and adoptive families, there will also be new and more ingenious ideas coming from Transfiguring Adoption,” Margaret Fink says. “A few people might be able to spark a bit of positive change in the world but their spark will eventually die out. The future of Transfiguring Adoption relies on you and me playing our part to help families and to form a movement. A movement can see big and lasting change.”
Harry Potter fandom has launched numerous non-profits through the years, from the social activist Harry Potter Alliance, to the charity fundraising Potterhead Running Club, to the animal rights advocate Protego Foundation. The efforts of Margaret Fink and her family, as well as the many individuals who volunteer their time to Transfiguring Adoption, compliments those organizations and their desire to better the world through the inspiration of Harry Potter.
“There is so much power in this fandom, and we have seen fans make great changes in society,” Margaret Fink says. “We have seen folks get so excited about donating to receive nonprofit merch with fandom themes rather than simply spending their money on merch from a business. We call it fandom with purpose!”
Anthony Letizia