Color Shift: Alejandra

In this episode, Alejandra shares her journey as a Guatemalan adoptee raised in the predominately white suburbs of Baltimore. Adopted at 15 months old, Alejandra always knew she was adopted — but knowing didn’t mean understanding. From growing up without Spanish to navigating a childhood where no one looked like her, she reflects on the quiet but constant reminders of difference that shaped her identity.

Alejandra talks about the pivotal year her mother took a sabbatical to live with her in Mexico so she could learn Spanish, and later, her decision to spend a year in Guatemala reconnecting with the country she came from. She also shares the emotional experience of searching for and meeting her biological family in 2019, and how becoming a mother herself has deepened her appreciation, compassion, and grief for the woman who gave birth to her.

This episode explores identity, language loss, reunion, and the weight of what it means to know — and not know — where you come from. Alejandra’s story offers tenderness, honesty, and a window into the layered reality of transnational adoption.

https://www.safepassage.org

https://www.thetiesprogram.com/guatemala-ties-heritage-tours