This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Jillian Lauren discusses her family's journey through the adoption of her son and her unique perspective as an both an adoptive mother and adopted child. Though adoption has come a long way through the years, there is still a long way to go with many children still in need of a home. Join her on her reflections on family, identity, and most importantly, love.

Jillian Lauren is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, Some Girls: My Life in a Harem, and the novel, Pretty. Some Girls has been translated into 17 different languages and is currently being adapted into a Lifetime movie. Her next memoir, Everything You Ever Wanted, is coming out from Plume/Penguin in 2015. Jillian has an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Magazine, Salon, and The Moth Anthology, among others. She is a regular storyteller with The Moth. Jillian blogs about motherhood and writing and whatever else she feels like.