Apple / Tree
we are an adoptee-led, supportive, social server
Please note that this site is currently under construction. We will remove this text once it's completed. Thank y'all for your patience. -- Foops
We are a supportive server for adoptees [adopted individuals] and the biological siblings of adopted persons. While there are countless groups aimed toward supporting adoptees and more specifically, our adoptive families, we've never found a public support server prepared to allow biological siblings of adopted persons to connect with adoptees. We feel this is incredibly important -- particularly with the rise of DNA testing kits.Apple/Tree aims to create a shared safe space in which adoptees and biological siblings may gather to discuss our experiences in community with one another.While Apple/Tree is not a service dedicated to reuniting adoptees and their biological families, we hope to see adoptees and biological siblings of adoptees connect over the shared experiences of being an adoptee or, conversely, being a biological sibling who has missed formative years with a sibling adopted out of the family, no matter the circumstances.Definitions:
An adoptee typically is someone who has legally been taken in by someone who is not their biological parent(s) and raised as though they were that non-biological parent's child.
A biological sibling of an adoptee is a sibling [brother or sister] who is genetically | biologically, "blood related" to the adoptee, whether the biological sibling was raised in the same household as the adoptee or not. See a more clinical definition here
FAQ
Q: What are Apple/Tree's rules?
A: Apple/Tree has only 3 rules. Simply put they are as follows --
1. Don't be a dick.
2. No hate speech of any kind.
3. Absolutely no adoption role play.
{Apple/Tree welcomes role-players, including those whose characters are adoptees, however, we do not permit members to role play the action of adopting others on our server as this is triggering for many adoptees.}Q: Why Apple/Tree?
A: It's a play on the idiom "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".Q: How does onboarding work?
A: There is a brief questionnaire of 6 pre-join questions. New members can access our "Hive" channels, designed for everyone to get to know one another. Engagement [reacting to posts, commenting on posts, creating one's own posts at least 2-3x per week] with the group is key to accessing the remainder of the server. Those with the highest engagement gain full access after 1 week. Lower engagement, 2 weeks.Q: I'm an adoptive parent {AP}, bio-parent, or the parent of a bio-sibling of an adoptee, but am not an adoptee or bio-sibling myself. May I join with or on behalf of my child(ren)?
A: We do not permit parents unless they themselves are an adoptee or bio-sibling of adoptee(s). This is a support server for adoptees and their bio-siblings. However, I do encourage parents to please reach out to us via email & let us know of your interest -- I have a dream of creating a similar space for y'all, too, but I can't do that without your support because I'm not a parent.Q: As a parent, I've concerns, for example, will there be swearing | cussing in your server? Is it "adult only" or adult content??
A: Yes to the cussing | swearing, though I draw the line at such language being directed toward anyone -- this would be considered hate speech, so as per the rules, no "Bleep you, Screenname!! You're so bleeping stupid!!" But if I've a rough day I can say, "man, I'm so bleeping tired..." This is not an adult only server. One of the onboarding questions is, "Which life stage should we assign you?" and the choices given include --
💛 teens aged 13-17
🧡 young adult aged 18-25
💜 adultier 25+
💚 parent is any age, just with the parent designation
🤍 aces who are aged 40+
Myself and one other founding member are Aces. Teens & Young Adults cannot access the Adultier or Aces categories & can only access the Parent category if they themselves are listed as a parent. Parents aren't permitted in our server, but I do invite y'all to oversee your teen's responses to the questionnaire.Q: You don't allow younger than 13 year-olds?
A: No. Neither does Discord, officially speaking. Servers can actually get into a lot of trouble for encouraging or allowing younger folks in. What I do have for the younger adoptees and their parents is a list of resources which may be of some assistance. Per the writing of this FAQ, I do not have that set up for y'all [apologies, we're under construction], but if there's something specific you're looking for, please don't hesitate to email us & we'll try to help.Q: I represent an adoptee organization, Discord server, subreddit, or other group & we would like to discuss working with your server or interviewing your founder[s].
A: Thank you for your interest in our server. Please reach out via email.
Our Founding Members
Our founder and main adoptee admin is Snaffoops, an artist and crocheter from the state of Georgia. She is a same-race, domestic infant adoptee. She loves learning about her Appalachian roots and history. Her favorite channel is SoundViews as it is a multimedia channel for sharing creative arts and music interests.
We'd love to hear from you or have you join us!