Tanya Kaanta

Tanya Kaanta was adopted from Korea into a small-town Connecticut family. Growing up navigating displacement and family instability, she discovered that she was a “switched baby” whose adoption records belonged to another child. Despite years of bureaucratic obstacles and personal hardship, she found support through school, social work, and therapy, eventually pursuing graduate studies in social work informed by her experiences as a transracial adoptee.

After a debilitating battle with Lyme disease and autoimmune encephalitis left her facing years of physical and neurological rehabilitation, Tanya credits her children with helping her find her way forward. Today, alongside her husband of 25 years, she leads The Ties Program, an adoptee-owned heritage travel organization offering guided trips for adoptees and their loved ones, facilitated by social workers, therapists, and adult adoptees.

Special thanks to the Thomas and Wonsook Foundation for their generous support in making this project possible.