Australian intercountry adoptees' diverse experiences returning to the 'homeland'

Intercountry adoption (ICA) stories about returning to the 'homeland' are viewed as compulsory reading for those of us in the ICA community. They reiterate our fears and fantasies about the other unknown family and nation forever connected to us but out of our reach until we finally make the journey 'back'. For the journey back is not only seen as inevitable, but also viewed as necessary and desirable for the emotional development of the adopted person and essential to achieving a sense of 'wholeness'. Indeed, discourses about 'returning' have changed considerably since the first intercountry adoptees arrived in Australia in the 1970s