https://www.adopteesffp.org

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https://savingoursistersadoption.org

Recommended Resources: https://thefamilypreservationproject.com https://untanglingourroots.org https://concernedunitedbirthparents.org

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Historical, the City’s oldest museum, where she is a Docent. You can find Sullivan at her website, on Instagram, and on Substack.

Adoptees for Family Preservation

https://onadoption.net

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Lora is a domestic, same race adoptee who is fully estranged from her adoptive family and reunited with both maternal and paternal biological family. In 2022, she legally changed her name back to her birth name and Lora’s biological mom reclaimed her through an adult adoption. Lora has self-published 3 illustrated books and a blog at www.myadopteetruth.com. She also co-led the publishing of the adoptee anthology The Flourish Experience.

Lora is the Secretary of Adoptees for Family Preservation (AFFP), a nonprofit organization committed to raising awareness of adoption industry practices. Lora co-leads a peer support group on estrangement through Adoption Knowledge Affiliates. And she is a Producer for the Adoptees On podcast.

Resources: https://www.adopteesffp.org

https://www.adoptionknowledge.org/peer-support-groups.html

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After 15 years in traditional psychotherapy practice, Dr. Zoe jumped off the couch and now helps women using a different modality with a mix of virtual therapy, coaching services and programs, through a lens of psychology, faith and a dash of feminism.

Dr. Zoe is the author of the Ask Dr. Zoe Column in the Grit and Grace Project women’s magazine and the books, A Year Of Self Care and Stronger In The Difficult Places released by Penguin Randomhouse Waterbrook. She has been featured in the OWN documentary series UNLOCKED, abd published in Oprahmag.com, Recovery Today magazine, Forbes and Today.com. She writes about helping women overcome shame and co-dependency. You can find her in the media on Instagram: @Drzoeshaw and in most social places at the handle DrZoeShaw.

https://drzoeshaw.com

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When she is not writing she enjoys having intimate conversations with the things that puzzle and delight her, admiring spiders, watching horror movies, and hunting for figs.

https://danijanae.com

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In March of 2023 she created her IG and TikTok accounts @voicelessbirthmother to begin sharing her story.

In 2025, Abbi collaborated with journalist T.J. Raphael on the investigative podcast Liberty Lost, which aired in the summer of 2025 and examined the realities of maternity homes and adoption practices.

Resources: https://wondery.com › shows › liberty-lost

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Music by Corey Quinn

She likes to think that she is a renaissance woman, a woman of many talents. Steffe loves to make stuff. In her free time she does a lot of volunteer work with kids teaching them design and architecture, volunteering in the forest preserve, and with Disc Golf Chicago to bring the sport to more folks in the city.

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Tammy is a same race domestic Black adoptee. She has immersed herself in the adoption community and has become a content creator as a writer with a focus on adoption and healing. Tammy is a 3x volunteer for in person adoption community conferences and plans to start a coaching business next year. She recently became an adoption attuned certified coach through GIFT (Growing Intentional Families Together).

Instagram: @Comingoutthatfogisamutha

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https://adoptee-voices.com

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Website: https://www.birdsongdoulas.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Jaciara has obtained her Master’s degree in Social Work and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She currently works as a medical social worker in a hospital and has been in this field for many years. Jaciara has also worked in the field of adoption/foster care at various capacities for 10 years, and recently has begun a new part-time role as a Court Appointed Family Engagement Specialist. She has been a panelist on numerous adult adoptee panels, has co-developed and presented training curriculum utilizing both her lived and professional experience on the multi-layered experiences and nuances in transracial placement/adoption. She has also created educational curriculum for adoptee youth teaching mindfulness practices, as well as sharing learned life lessons and hardships from her lived experience in effort to provide the support and knowledge she so greatly wished to have had when she was younger.

Jaciara has also independently provided 1:1 mentorship primarily to teenage adoptees including extending support/guidance to their adoptive parent(s). Jaciara is a member of the Board of Directors for S.P.A.C.E. (School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education) a well-known organization in her hometown that she actively participated in as a youth; she holds the position as the Chair of the board’s Cultural Education Committee. Outside of her professional work, her most cherished and beloved hobby is Samba dance; and she is a principal dancer on a award winning Samba team. For Jaciara, Samba has been her most steady connection to her Afro-Brazilian roots.

Resources/References: https://youtu.be/dmfxulaeMZI?si=exMTT3VX9SZkqXuB

http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/03/31/bayer-jaciara-jaciara-bayer-transracial-adoptions-and-white-privilege/

https://www.patreon.com/c/adopteeland

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Music by Corey Quinn

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She is the founder and CEO of BADAN, the Black African Diaspora Adoptee Network—a global community committed to connection, care, and collective truth-telling for Black adoptees across the diaspora. Through community organizing, mental health advocacy, and storytelling. She creates space for Black adoptees to name grief, reclaim identity, and move toward embodied belonging. Her work centers the lived experiences of same-race adoptees while pushing for accountability and change within adoption and mental health systems. As stated, she can be found spilling adoption truths on Instagram @theblackadoptea.  https://www.instagram.com/badancommunity/

References: https://untanglingourroots.org/schedule/

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Website: https://www.oldskoolcakes.com/

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In 2017, Janeen took a DNA test out of curiosity. What followed was a life-altering discovery: she was adopted, had been in foster care, and was biracial. She uncovered this truth in her 40s, a revelation that completely redefined her sense of self and understanding of her past. This experience launched her into a journey of emotional excavation, family redefinition, and self-empowerment. 

Janeen’s late discovery of her adoption brought with it many emotional and psychological challenges, including grief, anger, confusion, and a profound identity crisis. She wrestled with issues of trust, colorism, belonging, and depression. Learning how to set healthy boundaries, confront painful family secrets, and process her biracial identity has been central to her personal transformation.

Websites: https://mixedupdiary.com/ https://janeenjackson.com/

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Resource: https://adoptionmosaic.com/adoptee-beacon

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Website: https://www.livingmyshadows.org/

Resources: https://www.adoptionknowledge.org/registration-2025.html

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https://www.youtube.com/@OnceanOrphan

https://www.blackadopteesmeetup.org/

Recommended Resource: https://events.adoptionmosaic.com/launch-land

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Katie never had the desire to look for her birth parents, but an acquaintance insisted, and found maternal and paternal birth parents within days in 1996. She has met both birth families and have different relationships with them today.

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Jennifer is an adopted person on a lifelong healing journey. As an Enneagram Coach, she loves talking with other adoptees about how this tool for growth builds understanding and compassion for our whole selves. She believes healing happens in community and through the telling of our stories. You can connect with Jennifer on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/throughyourlensenneagram/, through email: jhiltebeitel@outlook.com or set up a free 30-minute Enneagram Coaching consultation with her at https://calendly.com/jhiltebeitel

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During times in this episode, there is sensitive content that may be traumatizing to some audiences. Listener discretion advised.

Katie is an adoptee who has always known she was adopted. Abuse and neglect by adoptive parents growing up led her to feeling unloved or unwanted by them. As a younger person, Katie felt so broken and joined Al-Anon and (ACA) Adult Children of Alcoholics for healing. She still felt like something was missing in her recovery. A friend gave Katie the book, The Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier, and she then sought out podcasts about adoptees which all proved to be great resources.

Katie never had the desire to look for her birth parents, but an acquaintance insisted, and found maternal and paternal birth parents within days in 1996. She has met both birth families and have different relationships with them today.

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Debbie has spent her life searching for birth relatives and cultural connections and is the founder of Transracial Adult Adoptee Network (TAAN), a community of peers. She has created and facilitates two in-person support groups for adult adoptees in London and is also the co-founder of the Adult Adoptee Movement UK.

Debbie uses her lived experience to help others heal and inform of the dislocation, alienation and isolation that occurs from being raised in a white foster or adoptive home without a biological identity or same race role model. 

Paul Sunderland Talks to Adoptees About HealingFrom Relinquishment Trauma and Complex PPTSD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8njTJVfsVA

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Linda is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth and has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount the many struggles she faced. Her traumas were born from being an adoptee who struggled with being forced to wear an impossible mask of playing the part of the “good adopted child.” Because being relinquished and adopted has colored her life, it’s Linda’s desire to be part of the movement that is dedicated to helping bring forth change to the way our world views the needs and support of adopted individuals. She believes strongly in adoptees finding their voice and discovering their truth to have a solid sense of self and to reclaim their identities. Through telling her story, Linda is dedicated to help redefine the narrative of adoption to include the entire complex truth.

This memoir is Linda Pavac (aka Emma Stevens’) third book. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism and has completed Master’s level course work in psychology, specializing in Marriage, Family, and Child counseling. She has two adult children and two cat children who she adores.

https://emmastevenswriter.com/

https://www.adopteetherapy.com/

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https://adoptee-voices.com/

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Emma Stevens is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth and has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount the many struggles she faced. Her traumas were born from being an adoptee who struggled with being forced to wear an impossible mask of playing the part of the “good adopted child.” Because being relinquished and adopted has colored her life, it’s Emma’s desire to be part of the movement that is dedicated to helping bring forth change to the way our world views the needs and support of adopted individuals. She believes strongly in adoptees finding their voice and discovering their truth to have a solid sense of self and to reclaim their identities. Through telling her story, Emma is dedicated to help redefine the narrative of adoption to include the entire complex truth.

This memoir is Emma Stevens’ first book. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism and has completed Master’s level course work in psychology, specializing in Marriage, Family, and Child counseling. She has two adult children and two cat children who she adores. 

"The Gathering Place, An Adoptee's Story" by Emma Stevens is available on Amazon.

https://emmastevenswriter.com/

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https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Nomi Kaie is a Black same race domestic adoptee who enjoys connecting with others, daydreaming, delicious meals, the arts, and running fast, to name a few interests. https://www.onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com/episode/31-nomi-an-adoptee-and-writer-who-is-new-to-the-adoption-community

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Website: https://gretafadness.com/

https://events.adoptionmosaic.com/wte-reg-disordered-eating

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podcast-event-with-atmom-special-guests-tickets-1413096101479

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Danielle Orr is a writer, painter and animal lover. She is currently working on her memoir.

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Jenna is a trauma-informed holistic spiritual consultant; her approach to healing blends Ayurvedic science, astrology, and general energy work to meet the unique needs of her clients

https://www.frequencyastrology.com/

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Bridgett is on a mission to inspire a global audience to reframe public speaking and communication not merely as a professional skill but as a fundamental human right and a lever of influence, equity, and justice. She is the founder of Press 49, a hybrid publishing company that amplifies untold stories and transformational voices.

Website: https://www.bridgettmcgowen.com/

Book recommendations: The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel van der Kolk M.D., Lions Roaring Far From Home by Aselefech Evans , Kassaye Berhanu-MacDonald, et al., Journey of the Adopted Self by Betty Jean Lifton.

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Jackson is an entrepreneur and leader who continues to defy the odds as a first-generation immigrant from West Africa who owns and runs a small business. The adopted son of bestselling author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst, Jackson is passionate about drawing together people from diverse backgrounds to experience authentic community. He lives with his wife and their two children outside Nashville, Tennessee.

Website: https://www.jacksonterkeurst.com/

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Dan Smith is an adoptee in reunion who co-facilitates a support group with Adoption Network Cleveland for all members of the constellation. It meets the last Thursday of each month online. He resides in Ohio and enjoys his retirement after a career as a firefighter.

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Zhen E (pronounced like Jenny) is a transnational transracial Korean Adoptee who was abducted through Holt in the 1970s to an all white family and community. She and her husband Robert (also white) are foodies and travelers and cat-parents to 4 cats and proud parents to Jordan and his wife Skyler and grandparents to granddaughter Jasmine Nari (3 years) and grandson Soren Eujin (3 weeks).

Zhen E is an adoptee advocate and has gone to Washington DC, LA, and the Iowa Legislatures to pass the Adoptee Citizenship Act.  

Zhen E has performed her pieces "Black Box: An Adoption Story Choreopoem" and other spoken word poetry about adoption at several play festivals, at KAAN and IKAA in the US and Seoul, South Korea.  

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Laura L. Engel likes to say she is late to the game as a budding new author. Originally from Biloxi, Mississippi, Laura has lived in Southern California for over 50 years. She and her husband, Gene are the proud parents of six grown children along with their significant others. They are delighted to be Grammy and PaPa to ten grandchildren. Recently retired after 30 plus years as a regional sales representative for an international title insurance company, Laura left the corporate world and plunged headlong into her second career as a writer in 2017.

Laura has had two scenes from her memoir chosen for the San Diego Memoir Showcase. Her scene, 'Secret Son' is published in the award winning anthology 'Shaking the Tree'. Her scene 'Do They Know?' was selected as one of the ten winners for the San Diego Memoir Showcase in 2018. It was published in 2019 in Amazon Best Seller and Award winning Shaking The Tree 2 and Shaking The Tree 3. She is a current member of the International Women Writers Guild and President of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association. Laura's memoir is 'You’ll Forget This Ever Happened'. Check out her website for more information regarding her memoir.

https://lauralengel.com/

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She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Phoenix and is a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). She was a member of Toastmistress in the early 1970’s before women could join Toastmasters. 

In 2005, she joined Toastmasters while employed at the City of Moreno Valley, and has served in many leadership positions, including District Governor in 2012-2013 and Region Advisor in 2017-2019. Roz has presented workshops and keynote speeches on corporate relations, leadership, marketing, mentorship, coaching, program quality, club growth and retention, public relations, staff development and team building for Toastmasters, Chambers of Commerce and other community organizations. 

She received Humanitarian of the Year from Moreno Valley Black Chamber of Commerce in 2011 and awards for marketing, education and training. Please contact Roz Carter to share her expertise, the benefits and value of Toastmasters, and lessons learned with your organization's employees and members.

https://ifoundherpodcast.com/

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Taya presented at the Adoption Knowledge Affiliates conference and participated in an Adoption Mosaic panel discussion. She has participated in multiple writing groups such as Migrating Towards Wholeness: Rewriting Adoption Narratives in the Constellation with Dr. Liz DeBetta and Adoptee Voices Cohort 14 with Sara Easterly. Reuniting with both of her birth parents has provided first-hand experience of adoption's complexities.

ifoundherpodcast.com

https://www.soundhousetherapy.com/

Taya shares her journey openly having co-hosted the podcast "I Found Her" with her birth mother and is writing an adoptee-guided journal, also titled ‘’I Found Her,’’ planned for 2025 publication. Her mission is to provide compassionate and effective support to fellow adoptees as they navigate their adoption identity.

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https://www.patreon.com/c/adopteeland

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https://waypointceremonies.com/

Rituals of Healing from Birth to Worth - Waypoint Ceremonies

https://AltaredMoments.substack.com

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He was adopted at the time of his birth. It wasn't until late in his adulthood that he chose to explore the identity of the woman who had placed him for adoption so many years before. His meticulous research led to his learning the circumstances of his birth and subsequent adoption. A dna sample helped him identify his birth father. While neither his father nor his first mother were still alive when Ed made his discoveries, he is in reunion with both maternal and paternal half brothers and a number of first cousins. His search and these reunions are chronicled in Ed's first book, The Gift Best Given: A Memoir. His second book, Gliding Through Goodbye traces his birth mother's travels and her emotional journey in the years after relinquishing him for adoption. Ed lives with his wife, Linda, in Hillsborough, North Carolina. They recently became grandparents for the first time. Emery Kramer Di Gangi made an early appearance on Easter Sunday and is flourishing.

https://www.digangiauthor.com/

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https://adoptionparadox.com/

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He has an adoptive older brother (troubled) and in contact with bio brother who is 4 years younger (also adopted out) who lives in the US (Michigan). Chris has spoken with foster father (foster mother has dementia) and in contact with bio mom (psych issues). He is in contact with a bio paternal uncle and unaware if his bio dad is alive. Chris subsequently submitted DNA through Ancestry. Within his home there was no talking about adoption; “if parents don’t, then I won’t”.

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Stacey was compelled to rewrite the narrative around Black adoption and fostering when she became a mom through adoption. Fueled to counteract negative stereotypes, she created Yes We Adopt in 2016. Through this platform, Stacey seeks to enlighten the Black community on the need for Black adoptive and foster parents.  As she further engaged with the adoption constellation, she refined her mission for Yes We Adopt to educate, uplift, and empower Black families with the tools they need to parent with courage while centering adoptees and birth families with care and respect. In 2020, she created the Yes We Adopt: Black Voices Amplified Summit to elevate our voices through community, advocacy, and education. In addition to her work in Yes We Adopt, Stacey also serves on the Board of Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) and is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in New Jersey, advocating for children in foster care.

She has conducted workshops at the Concerned Persons for Adoption “Let’s Talk Adoption” Conference and Christ Church’s “Foster Care & Adoption Seminar.”  She has also appeared on Fox Soul TV’s “The Book of Sean”; Yes, We Do Adopt! Podcast; The Adoption Journey Podcast, and was also featured in Rolling Out Magazine.

Stacey holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Rutgers School of Engineering. She is motivated by the scripture, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.”  Phillippians 4:6-7 

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For most of her life, she carried this part of her identity in silence—only sharing it with a select few friends and family members. Secrecy, and at times shame, shaped much of her experience.

Today, she's married, a proud mother of two adult sons, and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren. Professionally, she built a meaningful career as a human resource specialist, with over 23 years of experience in higher education. She also holds several professional certifications in her field.

Outside of work, she's rediscovering her love for reading as a way to disconnect from the noise of current events. Leslie recently took up knitting—still a novice, but enjoying the learning process through both in-person and online lessons. This season of life is about learning what brings her peace, what pleases her, and what helps manage stress in healthy, fulfilling ways.

She's honored to share space within the adoption constellation and to finally connect with a community that understands this journey—people who simply get her, just because.

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She is the co-author of "Rooted in Adoption-A Collection of Adoptee Reflections" and the "Rooted in Adoption Journal" now on Amazon. Veronica's Instagram is @rootedinadoption0520

Recommendations: https://www.sdpb.org/2012-07-16/piecing-together-stories-of-families-lost-in-slavery

https://growbeyondwords.com/2015/08/screening-questions-when-seeking-an-adoption-competent-therapist/

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Connect with her at www.kimberlycarter.live or on Instagram @kimberlycarterlive

Laura worked in pregnancy and parenting support for 20+ years. She has a Master’s degree in social work, and she has certifications in adoption therapy and perinatal mental health. Laura has experience supporting families with open adoption relationships and providing post adoption support. She is currently a perinatal social worker in a medical setting. 

Website: https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Find her @mirellastoyanova on Instagram or on her writing website, mirellastoyanova.com. 

Reference: https://adopteelitfest.com/

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With Adoption Mosaic, Maureen co-facilitates Conscious Adoption: Seasoned Parents and Navigating Estrangement, adoptive parent courses for which she also co-developed the curriculum. 

She is a writer and editor, including co-editor with two Ethiopian adoptees of “Lions Roaring, Far From Home: An Anthology by Ethiopian Adoptees.” Her writing has been published in Slate, Catapult, Focus on Adoption, Adoption Today, Adoptive Families of British Columbia, and others. She blogs at Light of Day Stories.

She has a B.S. degree from Georgetown University and an M.A. from the University of Maryland. She is a Certified Sage-ing Leader via Sage-ing International, an organization focused on aging consciously and intentionally with joy and discernment. She also has a certificate as an End-of-Life Doula for Companion Pets, partnering with their humans.

Websites: https://adopteesunited.org/ https://www.adopteesforjustice.org/

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Websites: https://consurgo.world/ https://adoptionmosaic.com/ https://frequency500.com/

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Originally a shy and awkward biracial adoptee, Stephanie is now one of those people who, as soon as you meet her, you’ll feel joy around. She graduated from Langara College (Digital & Print Publications, Dean’s Honour Roll) and recently from Simon Fraser University (Editing Certificate). Last summer, she published her first children’s book – Septopus.

Stephanie’s love for literature has lingered and will always be a labour of love. Try saying that ten times fast! Today, she writes, edits, and creates in Victoria, B.C. Never boring, often unconventional, but always engaging, Stephanie enjoys empowering other creatives in various capacities.

Websites: https://contentauthoring.com/ https://editors.ca/editor-profile/?id=40fae0c2-35f3-429e-80fe-ab410015866f https://www.bipocadoptees.org/

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Music by Corey Quinn

Websites: https://www.davidmccartycaplan.com/_files/ugd/0bdc61_f4e764d3d33e4ebb9f5f215bf0418cb5.pdf

https://www.nuroots.org/david

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Since 1988, D. Yvonne Rivers Aka Phoebe has been a champion of a cause, from business success, domestic violence, re-entry, and adoption community. One facet of this global business expert is an esteemed speaker, facilitator, and trainer across the globe on four continents.

Another facet of this woman started in 1973 with the birth of her son who she championed for family assistance for support to raise as an unwed mother at age 19. Life changes as she ‘did her best’ to place her son in a loving home. Yvonne had such ambition and brilliance, finishing a pre-med program in 3 years and accepted to medical school. 

Yvonne’s journey to become a ‘change-maker in her life and others began in 1973. Over 30 years, she continued the search with letters, journaling, speaking on panels and processing her grief and loss alone. Yvonne was unrelenting and never gave up. 2015 gave her a breakthrough with finding a picture of her son on social media. With boldness, she reached out, not knowing whether she would get rejection or acceptance. 

The Courage of a Birth Mother Overcomes All. Yvonne met her son in 2018. Through sitting in rooms of support groups and conferences, Yvonne found she had created a pathway of peace as a Birth Mother for herself and the “Now” is the time to help others in the adoption constellation. Yvonne launched “Birth Moms Real Talk podcast in June 2021. After Season One, BMRT podcast has reached over 185,000 persons and over five thousand downloads. BMRT hosts Saturday Chats with all members of the triad and has an audience who write letters and comments of the magnificence impact in their lives. 

Website: https://phoebemarketing.com/

Black Voices Amplified Link: https://birthmomsrealtalk.com/episode/episode-71-yvonnes-journey-live-podcast-at-black-voices-amplified-summit-2024

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In order of appearance:

Dr. Syb Brown, Isaac Etter, Maya Holmes, Sandria Washington, Dr. Jack Rocco, Kenneth Bonomo, Joi R. Fisher-Griffin, David Bynum, Dr. Patrice Martin, Iris Bryant and Dr. KE Katherin Garland.

Thank you for your generous gift of sharing a part of your story on the show.

Each adoptee has been a guest on this podcast. Go to https://www.onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com/ to listen to their full episode.

Music by Corey Quinn

Websites: https://www.eight16creative.com/. https://www.mynameisnotamy.com/

https://adopteesunited.org/. https://www.adopteesforjustice.org/

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Now holding a master’s degree in Couples and Family Therapy, Diego specializes in working with adoptees and their families, as well as others navigating complex relationship structures and dynamics. His therapeutic approach is rooted in empathy, cultural awareness, and a commitment to social justice. Whether working with individuals processing adoption-related trauma or those striving for deeper connection within their relationship(s), Diego brings insight, warmth, and a keen understanding of identity’s role in shaping relationships.

Beyond his clinical work, Diego has been a steadfast mentor to adoptees of all ages. He previously served as a youth mentor at Amara, a Seattle-based adoption agency, facilitating post-adoption support programs. He continues to be a supporter of the Colombian adoptee community, having served as an administrator for a global private Facebook group of over 2,400 Colombian adoptees. Additionally, as a Chair member of Aireroots, a local BIPOC adoptee organization, Diego is dedicated to creating inclusive spaces for BIPOC adoptees of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences. Through community-building, advocacy, and collaboration with like-minded organizations, he works to ensure that adoptees—especially those from marginalized backgrounds—have access to support, visibility, and empowerment.

A fierce advocate for racial equity and LGBTQ+ inclusion, Diego’s mission extends beyond adoption. He is committed to helping individuals and people(s) navigate identity, intimacy, and connection in a way that honors their unique experiences.

Websites: https://www.adopteefocusedtherapy.com/ https://aireroots.com/ https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Mentioned: "Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents Adoptive Parents and Allies" by Sara Easterly  (Author), Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard  (Author), Lori Holden(Author)

Sara Docan-Morgan’s book; “In Reunion: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Communication of Family" available on https://www.uwlax.edu/profile/sdocan-morgan/ and Amazon.com

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He is French Horn player. As a baby, Paul lived in Foster Care after being relinquished by his first mother, a concert cellist, at 5 days old. He was adopted on his first birthday by a liberal Berkeley family in the 1960’s. He is married to Doctor Dominee Muller-Kimball. They have two daughters and one and one beautiful grandson!

Paul loves hiking. His Memoir, We are all Human Beings/An Adoptee Ponders is available on Amazon and Outskirts Press. He is currently working with California Alliance for Adoptee Rights on legislation that would allow unrestricted access to Original Birth Certificates to Adult California born adoptees.

Paul's memoir, "We are all Human Beings; An Adoptee Ponders is available on Amazon.com.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erHylYLHqXg&t=68s

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Jennifer is an adopted person on a lifelong healing journey. She was adopted through the county foster care system in Pennsylvania in the early 70s and just obtained her original birth certificate in 2023. She met her biological mother at 17 and father at 21 before the internet existed and has ongoing relationships with extended members of her biological family. Jennifer loves helping others - especially adoptees - process their stories through the lens of the Enneagram: a personality tool for self growth and navigating relationships.

Jennifer has a MEd in Multicultural Education and an Enneagram Certification).

If you are interested in discovering the Enneagram as a tool to help you process your adoption story email Jennifer at jhiltebeitel@outlook.com to set up your first coaching session or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with her at https://calendly.com/jhiltebeitel to see if you would benefit from Enneagram coaching.

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Astrid is the founder and CEO of Adoption Mosaic, an adoptee-led, BIPOC woman-owned business that creates for and connects our adoption constellation community through adoptee-centered events, education courses, and consultations. For over three decades, Astrid has served the adoption constellation through a variety of innovative programing designed to highlight the adoptee experience. Prior to creating Adoption Mosaic, Astrid worked in both the private and public sectors of various adoption organizations such as the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC), Holt International and Rocky Mountain Adoption Exchange, to name just a few. Astrid is aware of the benefits of post-adoption services for individuals and their families and seeks to bring these services to the adoption community. Her life-long interest in adoption is rooted in her own adoption at the age of four from Colombia (along with her older sister). Astrid has been in reunion since December 2012 with her birth family in Colombia.

Website: https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Her handle on social media was @adoptionclarity, where she encouraged an adoptee-centric philosophy. She became a Board Member of the Post Adoption Center for Education and Resources. She acquired Strengths-Based Coaching certification, where she encouraged families to support their strengths and encourage their children to use their strengths as well.  

As an adoptee, she had a hard time investigating her heritage because she felt she did not deserve to know her background out of loyalty to adoptive parents.  After several years of therapy and adoptee support groups, she was able to break through her thinking to use Ancestry to complete her search.  She received a response in 48 hours and had a chance to meet her bio-dad before he passed. She has added Butler to her name in honor of her heritage.

Website: https://giftfamilyservices.com/ https://giftfamilyservices.com/.../growing-intentional.../. Growing Intentional Families Together, LLC. "We would love to meet you and want to keep you in the loop".

Music by Corey Quinn

OBC to California Born Adoptees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erHylYLHqXg

Music by Corey Quinn

Jennifer Hiltebeitel (HILL - ta - bite - el) was adopted from foster care as a preschooler and grew up to be a fourth-grade teacher with a Master's degree in Multicultural Education. 

She met members of her biological family between the ages of 17-21 and is honored to understand pieces of her story that were once missing. 

She has been married to her husband Eric for 24 years - the person who taught her she was worthy of unconditional love. They have one daughter through birth who is in college and another daughter through international adoption who is in high school. 

Her daughters have taught her how to love the way another needs to be loved and the value of caring for her own story first so she can parent with intentionality. 

Jennifer currently volunteers at her church supporting other moms and mentoring teen girls. She works with The Adoption Connection and is an Enneagram coach - a job that combines her love of learning, teaching and relationships.

If you are interested in discovering the Enneagram as a tool to help you process your adoption story email Jennifer at jhiltebeitel@outlook.com to set up your first coaching session or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with her at https://calendly.com/jhiltebeitel/free-consult?month=2022-11 to see if you would benefit from Enneagram coaching.

Books referenced: "The Road Back To You" by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile "The Journey Toward Wholeness" by Suzanne Stabile "The Path Between Us" by Suzanne Stabile "The Story of You; An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self" by Ian Morgan Cron

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: NatashaBooks.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Links: https://butlerl.substack.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theadopteeclown/

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Anita is a passionate, creative, transracial adoptee. Adopted with her identical twin sister, she grew up on a chicken farm with five siblings and considers her faith and family to be most important to her. She has a bachelor's degree in Social Work and is presently pursuing her Master's degree in Social work and a Certificate in Expressive Arts. When she isn't engaged in coursework or academic activities, you can almost always find her grabbing a bite with friends or working on her first book, to be released in 2023. 

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: https://www.bipocadoptees.org/

IG: @pandamonium25

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Sandi is an international adoptee from Panama, adopted by a Black US Air Force family stationed in Panama at the time. Most of her life has been in the midwest but she moved to Virginia in 2020. She is a social worker whose 30-year career has included time in mental health & child welfare. She has been in reunion with her first mother and maternal family since 2004. She's experienced some life-changing events since she was guest in 2022.

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Sandi C. is an international adoptee from Panama. Most of her life has been in the midwest but she returned to the DMV area about a year & a half ago. She is a social worker whose 30-year career has included time in mental health, adoption, and foster care. She has been in reunion with her birthmother and maternal family for 18 years.

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: https://cominghometoself.co/.

Links: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theresilienceprojectforadoptees

https://tinyurl.com/Rheti-Assessment

https://www.instagram.com/juliebrumley_/

https://www.positiveintelligence.com/saboteurs/

https://www.lightoasis.co/freehd

Website: https://cominghometoself.co/.

Links: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theresilienceprojectforadoptees

https://tinyurl.com/Rheti-Assessment

https://www.instagram.com/juliebrumley_/

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: https://girland4families.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: bipocadoptees.org

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Grace is both an Adoptee and a Foster Alum. She’s committed to creating more equity, inclusion, and opportunity for our communities, especially within our workplaces and careers. She is a former nonprofit executive with 15 years of experience in both the corporate and nonprofit sectors and holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. 

Website: https://www.theinclusioninitiative.com/

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https://severancemag.com/dear-mother/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r4LJkJJ6aI

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1480979724?ref=cm_sw_r_mwn_dp_VEQD3XYGHN0MX43XVFC8&ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_dp_VEQD3XYGHN0MX43XVFC8&social_share=cm_sw_r_mwn_dp_VEQD3XYGHN0MX43XVFC8&language=en_US&skipTwisterOG=1

A contributing published author to the Adoptee Voices Writing Group created by Sara Easterly; the e-Zine https://adoptee-voices.com/ezine-root-morning-coffee-at-wits-end/

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: https://www.shannongibney.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Links: https://linktr.ee/ryanartes

https://upendmovement.org/dream/

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Pekitta Tynes is a published author of the book "Thank God I was Adopted 'Cause DNA is No Joke!" Based on her memoirs and journey to how she found her biological family through DNA testing. Her reunion can be seen on a YouTube video, "Pekitta's Journey". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFhUFNkqpPU

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"Raise your hand and self validate yourself." -Marc Borne

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She is one of five children who were removed from their first family over time and placed in foster care, and most were adopted when young. She didn't know until decades later that she had lived with her first mother for weeks or months. 

Because of closed adoptions, it took decades to connect scarce information to find her siblings. 

She and her siblings have Ojibwe or A-nish-i-naabe and Northern European roots. Some are enrolled tribal members, and all have Indigenous heritage. 

After many years, they began to find each other, one by one. Because her siblings did not grow up together, it took time to know each other, feel solid in their identity, and develop a deep sense of belonging. This happy ending came after a complicated childhood with many challenges.

Website: https://www.elizabethblake.us/

Music by Corey Quinn

Nancy identifies herself by her most treasured life roles; wife, mother, daughter, sister, newly-retired midlife transition coach and late discovery adoptee (LDA).  

She is in the process of completing her memoir, Reunion.  It is about her own midlife ‘identity quake’ that took place at her 20th high school reunion when her best friend from childhood revealed a 37 year old family secret:  Nancy was adopted.  

Nancy returned home from the reunion without telling her mom what she had learned in order to process the crushing grief of her loss alone.  Her husband begged her to not tell her mother what she learned.  Nancy had no idea how many people knew but her.  She researched why her birth certificate’s information was false and learned about Illinois’ sealed records laws and the amended birth certificate that replaced her original one.  The injustice that adoptees born in Illinois were not allowed to know their identity only made Nancy more determined to find out the truth and the woman responsible for giving her life.  

The real breakthrough occurred several weeks later, when she  stopped asking “Why now, God?  Why me,?” and instead, opened her heart and mind to the possibility that this may be happening for a reason.  It was then that Nancy could see the mysterious synchronicities that were happening and unexpected mentors that were appearing, much like Joseph Campbell’s description of the Hero’s Journey.  One by one, she found more clues that led her to find and reunite with her birth mother, Donna and four half siblings.  Twenty-eight years later, as Nancy prepared to start writing her memoir, she took an Ancestry.com test, hoping it would give her the missing pieces of her story.  It did, including who her father was, that he was the son of Croatian immigrants and she is the oldest of eight siblings.

What Nancy could not see in 1991 was that her fateful decision to attend her reunion with her friend was the beginning of a 28-year soulful and transformative journey to find her true identity, purpose and belonging.  After searching and reuniting with her birth mother, Nancy transitioned from a successful 30-year sales and marketing career in the travel and pharmaceutical industries and completed a year-long certification program with Hudson Institute of Coaching.  It was at Hudson, when she discovered that her true purpose and passion was to coach people who were at a midlife crossroads, asking themselves life’s deepest questions: “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” Over the past two decades, she has had the privilege of guiding and encouraging hundreds of global professionals seeking the clarity and confidence to craft their new life narrative and successfully transition into their next chapter.  

Nancy lives with her husband of 22 years in Bainbridge Island, Washington and is lucky enough to have her son and daughter in law who live close by in Bremerton.  Even though she will always be a “Chicago girl” at heart, Nancy feels she has found the place where her she was destined to be.  She enjoys opportunities to hike, kayak and trailer camp with her husband, David while being nurtured and inspired by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. 

Website: http://www.nancymccaughey.com/

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By Kate Murphy, LCSW

Kate Murphy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a psychotherapy practice in Atlanta, GA. She specializes in working with members of the adoption constellation with a focus on adoptees. She knows that processing the loss and grief caused by relinquishment is challenging to do alone. Kate believes it's possible to understand yourself better, take charge, and live with more purpose and joy.

Website: https://katemurphytherapy.com/

Simon was adopted at 5 weeks old and told so young he doesn’t ever remember not knowing. He didn't experience any conscious adoption trauma until 40 when he found out his childhood teddy bear was a gift from his birth mother. This caused an eruption of anger, feeling rejected and unloved. That kickstarted a healing journey exploring trauma, my roots and who he is. Simon spent 17 years doing this and continues to be fascinated by healing, growing and thriving. He’s interviewed over 400 people about this from the adoption constellation for the Thriving Adoption podcast https://www.thrivingadoptees.com/podcast

Simon also runs his own webinars on advocacy, thriving and other topics for adoptees and adoptive parents and adoption social workers.

Music by Corey Quinn

Marcie is an author, speaker, master storyteller and CoFounder of the National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP) She retired as Vice President of Retail Bank Management and Merrill Lynch after serving the financial industry for over 32 years.

A first/birth mom in reunion since 2008, she co founded Indiana Adoptee Network and testified moultiiple times throughout the years in support of OBC access for the sister organization, H.E.A.R. Hoosier For Equal Access to Records, where she served as Vice President. She also hosts the twice monthly Friday night virtual event Adoption Happy Hour with a global audience from across the adoption constellation.

Keithley is the author of The Shoebox Effect, Transforming Pain Into Fortitude and Purpose and co author of the childrens book, Frankie and Friends Talk Adoption

She is a native Hooiser and resides on the sunnyside of Louisville along the banks of the Ohio River in Indiana Owned by one sassy goldendoodle, Murfee, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren and is an avid cloud watcher, lover of Cali Reggae and always in search of the perfect Margarita.

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: https://www.kegarland.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

She was born and adopted in Chicago. From an early age her adoptive parents shared her adoption story and encouraged her to search for her biological family. With their support, she eventually found out she was not only a big sister to her parent’s biological child, but a big sister to her own four biological siblings. Lisa is the mother of two phenomenal young adults aged 22 and 25. She has been in education for 34 years. In her spare time, she runs marathons, crochets, and tends to her vegetable gardens. 

StoryCorps: https://storycorps.org/stories/adopted-woman-finds-siblings-learns-family-secret/

Music by Corey Quinn

Dr. Rowley is available for a brief, no-cost phone consultation to answer your questions about his practice and him.

Website: https://stephenrowley108.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Rebecca Autumn Sansom is a documentary filmmaker, event planner, and non-profit director. Her films, including Reckoning with the Primal Wound (2023) and Trainsforming America (2012), have screened at film festivals and public and private events throughout the United States. She is the founder and director of the non-profit, the WAVYS, that hosts a music awards show annually in New York City with generous support from the NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. As a native Nashvillian, Rebecca’s life has been steeped in the sounds of Music City, and in 2015 she won a Midsouth Regional Emmy for her work on Tout Your Town, a travel series produced by Genuine Human Productions in Nashville, TN.

Watch: Reckoning with The Primal Wound

Website: Variety Feature on The Wavys www.thewavys.org

Music by Corey Quinn

With a passion for writing and a talent for prose, Mee Ok is an award-winning stylist and poet. Her work has appeared in notable publications like the LA Times, Boston Globe Magazine, and Michael Pollan’s Trips Worth Telling anthology. She was even featured in Gabor Maté’s New York Times bestseller The Myth of Normal and the Netflix docuseries [Un]Well. With over a decade of experience working with ayahuasca and dieting seven master plants, Mee Ok is curing a near-fatal autoimmune disease, scleroderma, and is dedicated to helping others heal and recover their birthright of authenticity and truth.

Mee Ok holds a BA in Philosophy from Boston University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, and has studied the history of sexuality and medicine at Harvard. She is currently in the process of being initiated in her own indigenous tradition of Korean shamanism (mudang) and as an ayahuasquera in the Shipibo lineage. With a diverse set of passions, including racial and disability equity, adoptee advocacy, social justice, film, literature, doggies, and drag, Mee Ok is a curious soul with a wealth of knowledge and experience she loves to share. To learn more about her writing and work, visit Mee-ok.com

Website: https://holdingcompassionate.space/

Music by Corey Quinn

Website Resources: https://adoptionmosaic.com/ https://gazillionvoices.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Websites: https://www.mendedheart.org/ https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Instagram: @mending_the_adopted_heart

Adoptee Consciousness Model: https://intercountryadopteevoices.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/adoptee-consciousness-model.pdf

https://redthreadbroken.com/2022/06/23/out-of-the-fog-and-into-consciousness-a-model-of-adoptee-awareness/

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: https://www.rebeccawellington.com/

ADOPTEE REMEMBRANCE DAY IS OCTOBER 30th

Music by Corey Quinn

Hosting Adoption: the Making of Me has brought questions and past feelings to the surface about why she had always felt the way she did. Sharing this journey of discovery with the adopted community has proven to be a life-changing experience.

Louise enjoys spending time with her grown son, her husband, family, and friends, hikes, enjoys nature, and is working on writing her first novel and getting a children’s book published. 

Website: https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Passionate about supporting families, she is certified in Hand in Hand Parenting, Redirecting Children’s Behavior, the Enneagram, and Whole Person Design Life Coaching. Drawing from a large tool box which includes continuing education in Mindfulness, High Conflict Diversion, ADHD, ACES, Attachment Theory and Trauma Informed Care, Jennifer provides counseling and coaching to help families move from conflict to the connection they seek. 

She also works with Adoption Mosaic as a co-teacher and parenting consultant. As their adoptee outreach coordinator, she interviews adoptees to help find panelists for their “We the Experts” series. 

She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband. Together they have 4 grown children.

Websites: https://www.feelmorelove.net/

https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Adopted at birth, Edward Di Gangi was born and raised in New York City. Although he knew for most of his life that he was adopted, it wasn’t until he approached his 70th birthday that he began to search for the identity of his birth mother. His journey and the many surprising discoveries he made as he searched are recounted in his memoir, The Gift Best Given. Edward and his wife now live in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He is a popular book club presenter and podcast guest. The Gift Best Given is his first full-length book.

In this episode,  Edward shares the research he continues to do in preparation for his next book, how he has come to better understand the birth mother’s experience, the month of May and how some things have not changed since 1948, the year he was born.

Website: https://www.digangiauthor.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Website: heathergmarshall.com When the Ocean Flies

TEDx: "Letting go of Expectations" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meka3_pUVqc

Music by Corey Quinn

Michael was adopted in 1961 in Illinois. He grew up with two younger sisters; 1 adopted 1 bio. His family moved to Southern California when he was five. He has been married for 38 years and has three wonderful children and two granddaughters. He worked in the television industry for many years and moved his family to Atlanta work on Olympics and never left Atlanta.

Around 2002, Michael started running, biking and swimming one thing led to another and he started doing Iron Man triathlons.  If you asked him to describe himself in 2019 he would say “A husband, father, grandfather & athlete”. He did both Ancestry and 23andMe out of curiosity and was never searching for family. there was a match on 23andMe and life changed forever! Now, he describes himself as ADOPTED, husband, father, grandfather & athlete.

At years 58 years old on July 3 2019, Michael found his birth mom and maternal half brother and sister. With a little more research he found his birth father who passed away in 2011. He had 4 sons and 1 daughter. Michael now has a total of 9 siblings!

Michael's first appearance was during Season 3, episode 44.

Recommended Books: "The Girls Who Went Away"- Ann Fessler, "The Primal Wound"-Nancy Verrier, "The Body Keeps the Score"-Bessell van der Kolk

Recommended Podcasts: Adoptees on, Who am I really?, Adoption; The Making of Me, Pulled by the Root, The Adoption Files, Thriving Adoptees, Voice of Adoptees, Adoption Unfiltered, Unraveling Adoption, Birth Mom’s Real Talk, DNA Surprises, Everything is Relative, and NPE Stories

Music by Corey Quinn

Valerie now lives in Asheville, NC with her honeybees, chickens & dwarf goats.

Valerie’s new book is available in print, ebook and soon to be release audiobook. You can find parts of it on her website http://valerienaiman.com or order on Bookshop, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble.

Music by Corey Quinn

https://www.eva-asprakis.com

https://www.instagram.com/eva.asprakis

Music by Corey Quinn

www.UntanglingOurRoots.org

Leslie maintains a psychotherapy practice in the Atlanta area. Her specialties include individual, group, and couples therapy, as well as expertise in third-party reproduction and adoption issues.

Website: https://lesliepatemackinnon.com/about/

Music by Corey Quinn

After being reunited with her biological family, Monica learned that she was indigenous and began traveling to Canada to connect more with her biological family, roots, and culture. She also makes frequent visits to Anchorage, the land of her youth.

Family is one of the most important things in Monica’s life. Today, she has strong relationships with her daughter and son, as well as the daughter she was reunited with eighteen years after relinquishing her for adoption. She is also very close to her grandchildren and (adoptive) brother.

Website: https://www.monicahall.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

"Four Birthmothers-For Mothers", a film by Jean Strauss https://vimeo.com/119964199?fbclid=IwAR1trqaG6l_KmBuo5zTPJgEGz0G97OAGefedo7jgXHs8HZtLI_NgBRm0LWo

https://adopteesunited.org/

Podcast: www.mindyourownkarma.com

Website: https://www.somatichealingjourneys.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Kelsey is now the Director of Advocacy and Policy at AdoptMatch in California.

Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents and Allies on Amazon.com

Podcast: https://www.twistedsisterhoodpodcast.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

https://savinggraceadoptionservices.com/

https://www.rootedinadoption.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Sara is an award-winning author and essayist. Her latest book, Adoption Unfiltered (Rowman & Littlefield, Dec 2023), is a collaboration with birth parent Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard and adoptive parent Lori Holden. Her spiritual memoir, Searching for Mom, won a 2020 Illumination Book Award gold medal, among many others. Sara’s adoption-focused articles and essays have been published by Psychology Today, Dear Adoption, Feminine Collective, Her View from Home, Red Letter Christians, and Severance Magazine, to name a few. Sara is Founder of Adoptee Voices and previously led one of the largest chapters of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), where she was recognized as SCBWI Member of the Year. She is a trained facilitator and staff member with the Neufeld Institute.

Sara resides outside of Seattle with her husband, two daughters, and a menagerie of rescued fur-babies. As an adoptee, she has a passion for helping others understand the often-misunderstood hearts of adopted children.

Find her online at https://saraeasterly.com/ https://adoptee-voices.com/

Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies available on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Adoption-Unfiltered-Revelations-Adoptees-Adoptive/dp/1538174693/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CEMXIV5XIDQL&keywords=adoption+unfiltered&qid=1706624058&sprefix=%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-1

Searching For Mom: A Memoir available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Searching-Mom-Memoir-Sara-Easterly/dp/0578601958/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3T8RJV7GXFQAK&keywords=searching+for+mom+sara+easterly&qid=1706624112&sprefix=sara+easter%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1

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David was born and adopted at birth in Columbus, Oh. He began his search in 2018 and is currently in reunion with both sides of his biological family. He is a married father of three and grandfather of six. He is a U.S. Army Veteran and Retired Correctional Officer. David Recently retired from coaching High School Football at Reynoldsburg High School due to the Coved – 19 pandemic. David and his wife Marie own ByDam Multimedia, which is the parent company to Star107fm https://www.star107fm.com/personalities an online radio station that has a global presence. His company recently produced his latest award winning documentary release, “From A Place of Love – My Adoption Journey” https://tubitv.com/movies/596100/from-a-place-of-love-my-adoption-journey which is gaining national attention in the adoption/foster community. David enjoys traveling, boating, fishing, and spending time with family.

Music by Corey Quinn

Barbara Robertson is affiliated with NAAP (National Association of Adoptees and Parents) and co-facilitates a virtual support group Adoption Network Cleveland once a month.

She is a contributor to "Black Anthology: Adult Adoptees Claim Their Space" (The An-Ya Project) https://www.amazon.com/s?k=adult+adoptees+claim+their+space&crid=3MHVR2DDF70GC&sprefix=adult+adoptees+claim+their+space%2Caps%2C248&ref=nb_sb_noss

Co-editing by Charles Yingling at The Blueroom Studios, Nashville, TN

Music by Corey Quinn

Angie was born in El Salvador, Central America and at the age of three adopted by Tom and Charlene Smith. She is the youngest of eight, but grew up as an only child. During her youth in West Des Moines, IA and living in a White household was complex and disorienting. She is a survivor of physical and sexual abuse. She is currently finding her roots through DNA testing.

Angie has been a part of Adoptees Connect Nashville founded by Pamela Karanova for several years and enjoys the connection with other adoptees.

Music by Corey Quinn

Books published by Iris Peterson Bryant: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=iris+peterson+bryant&crid=29OS0MGA1PSUR&sprefix=iris+peterson+bryant%2Caps%2C117&ref=nb_sb_noss

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Her research has been published in Adoption Quarterly, the Journal of Family Communication, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Communication Quarterly, Family Relations, and the Journal of Korean Adoption Studies, as well as in edited volumes. Her research focuses on how personal identity and family identity are formed, maintained, and negotiated through communication in both adoptive and birth families. She teaches courses about how communication shapes, and is shaped by, interpersonal relationships and identity.

Sara is a transnational Korean adoptee who was adopted at the age of 4 months. She has been in reunion with her Korean family since 2009. 

https://tupress.temple.edu/books/in-reunion

Music by Corey Quinn

Ridghaus relinquished a son at 19 and then later, at the age of 35, learned that he had been relinquished and adopted.

Ridghaus is the co-creator of the 6WAM (Six Word Adoption Memoir). He has spent the last 20 years teaching as a professor in English, Communication, Media, and Law from his graduate degrees in English (MA), Communication (MA), and Jurisprudence (JD).

He recommends for LDAs the Private Facebook Late Discovery Adoptee Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/latediscoveries

Music by Corey Quinn

Jean A. S. Strauss is an adoptee who located her birth family in 1988, a life-changing experience which she continues to learn from today, thirty-three years later. She is the author of five books (three about adoption search and reunion) and over 80 films, 55 of which are focused on the need for adoptee access to records. These works are all streamed online, for free, including two features which aired on PBS (one in which YOU are a star!) Worn a lot of hats, but work in the adoption arena has been among the most meaningful of pursuits of her life. 

Born in California, now living in Massachusetts, with a lot of moves in between. Hats: wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, writer, filmmaker, legislative advocate, rower, candidate, adventurer - and citizen. 

Music by Corey Quinn

This episode is lovingly dedicated to Stephen McGue (Julie Ryan McGue's husband) who made his earthly transition on 02/12/22.

Julie is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. She explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong and making sense of it. She is the author of two books: Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging, and Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship. Her third book, a prequel to Twice a Daughter, will be released in February 2025.

Website: https://juliemcgueauthor.com/

Julie Ryan McGue books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Julie-Ryan-McGue/author/B08K2DBZ31?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

FB @juliemcguewrites

IG @julieryanmcgue

twitter @juliermcgue

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Kate is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a psychotherapy practice in Atlanta, GA. She specializes in working with members of the adoption constellation with a focus on adoptees. She knows that processing the loss and grief caused by relinquishment is challenging to do alone. Kate believes it's possible to understand yourself better, take charge, and live with more purpose and joy.

Music by Corey Quinn

Here’s the link to the book’s product page on Amazon: https://a.co/d/hscfiwt 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LetHerBeGreater

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themichellemadrid

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-madrid-62b1661a/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMichelleMadrid

Music by Corey Quinn

She knew from an early age that books, words and stories would always be her saving grace. She remembered when her parents separated and the lights got turned off and her father moving out. ⁣⁣

Sandria and my mother would walk to the library and she’d let her check out a stack of books. There wasn’t any time for her to be sad; She was too busy reading and making up her own stories.⁣

Like many little book lovers of the early 80’s, She was a school spelling bee winning-Chicago Young Authors writing-Scholastic Book Fair anticipating-Book It! Pizza Hut personal pan pizza eating scholar. ⁣⁣

By the time Sandria arrived on the campus of U of I, she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. She minored in English and received her B.S. in Advertising. Her post-college professional career has been....interesting. ⁣

She's been an editor, advertising account executive, freelance writer, blogger, corporate communications AVP, and an entrepreneur.⁣

In between all of this, Sandria has been a theater and film actress, award-winning natural hair model, radio personality, event curator, and certified yoga teacher - just to name a few! As her friends often like to remind her, “Sandria is a whole mood!” she can’t argue. ⁣

Sandria as a creative liked to taking the scenic route in life and loved a good backstory. She believed everything lived through and the tools she picked up along the way - particularly the sudden death of her mother in 2011, a 20 year practice of journaling and being a student of yoga - helped prepare her for April 2, 2018 and the call that would change her life.⁣

On the Monday following Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day, standing in her kitchen, she finally made the call to her aunt that she'd been putting off for months. “Is it true that I’m adopted?” Her confirmation set in motion a search not only for her backstory, but the untold stories of other Black adoptees.⁣

https://www.blacktothebeginning.com/

A Year of Black Joy: A Year of Black Voices Share Their Life's Passion https://www.amazon.com/s?k=a+year+of+black+joy&crid=23WEFDYEVB8GO&sprefix=a+year+of+black%2Caps%2C161&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_15

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Lorraine Dusky is an award-winning journalist, editor and author who prefers to write stories that will make a difference. Her controversial memoir, BIRTHMARK, published in 1979, was the first from a mother to write about the grief of giving up a child to adoption. 

Lorraine soon became a lightning rod for controversies surrounding adoption. An advocate for adoptees’ rights, she fought for legislation that would unseal original birth certificates.

But she is not simply a woman who wrote about having given up a child. On other topics, she was a finalist for a National Magazine Award and won two Exceptional Merit Media Awards (EMMAs) from the National Women’s Political Caucus for writing on the political issues of the day.

Website: https://www.firstmotherforum.com/

"Hole in my Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of Adoption" https://www.amazon.com/s?k=lorraine+dusky+hole+in+my+heart&crid=T77F36EVFZAL&sprefix=%2Caps%2C101&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent

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Throughout her employment history, human services have been at the core. Some of the industries she’s worked in include higher education, financial services, corporate healthcare, and media management.

Constance is now a working writer and content creator focused on her autobiographical novel, The House on Union Street.

The Mission of the film “Color of Autumn” 

Our mission is to tell a universal story through the eyes of Black woman writer and storyteller, Constance Nicole Frierson, so that more creatives can be inspired to galvanize a movement for racial education, equanimity, an end to hate speech, hateful acts and the underlying social currents that create environments in which hate flourishes. This film is a collaboration between a change maker and her allies.

Narrative of the short film “Color of Autumn” depicts a precocious eight-year-old Black girl who lives with her grandmother in a quaint house on the Southside of Chicago. Nestled in her neighborhood and focused on the comforts and stresses of her family’s hard-won middle class life. Dottie Grimsby has little awareness of racial tension or the isolation of segregation. But she is about to find out.

Website: https://www.colorofautumn.com/

Instagram: Color of Autumn Film

Gmail: Ariesista@gmail.com

Contact: 773-849-3306

Recommended Resource: Rebecca Bloom https://www.whenwomengetsick.com/

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She writes both creative nonfiction and fiction about grief, adoption, motherhood, and race, and hopes to raise awareness about the inherent complexities of adoption by sharing her writing with readers, both inside and outside of the adoption constellation. Her work has been published in literary journals such as Hippocampus Magazine, Peatsmoke Journal, and others. Sara has published twice in the https://adoptee-voices.com/ezine/

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Website: https://www.thesusanito.com/bio

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Sophie P. Jupillat Posey was born in Venezuela, adopted by French parents, residing in the United States from three to 28 years of age and now currently residing in France. Sophie’s life has been as complex and rich as her heritage. Her childhood and teenage years were full of amazing adventures such as raising raccoons, learning dual curriculums at the same time and traveling extensively throughout the US and France. However, those years were full of pain due to psychological and physical abuse. She was exposed to the arts early on; which resulted in her falling in love with writing and music. 

Sophie went to Rollins College in 2011, and graduated with a Bachelors in English with Honors, as well as minors in both Music and Creative Writing. She started publishing short stories, and her orchestral and piano pieces in literary magazines while she was still in college. She is now an indie author, publishing novels and novellas, in the fantasy and science fiction genres mainly (also some poetry and kid lit). She is also an indie composer and singer-songwriter with three albums in the neoclassical and jazz genres under her belt. She has also scored the soundtracks for a few short films.

Sophie is also a teacher with experience teaching Special Ed and ESE students in English and French. Like most things in her life it was a happy accident that led her from doing private tutoring during and after college, to teaching full-time and getting her certifications and Masters in Elementary Education with a focus on Dual Language writer.

https://linktr.ee/spjposey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU9l2wYoh_A

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Kristin received a Masters of Science in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Utah.  She has over twenty years experience helping children, adolescents and adults with a variety of challenges with special focus in areas related to trauma. Her therapeutic approach is integrative, utilizing a variety of methods that are tailored specifically to your needs. She is an LGBTQ affirmative therapist.

Website: https://www.tradewindscounseling.com/

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Sheala launched a search for her biological parents at the age of 15 with a visit to Grand Rapids. Afterwards, at age 18 she asked Bethany (Christian) Services, her adoption agency, for non-identifying information. She learned she was abandoned in a hospital for six days and later placed in a foster home a few miles away from her biological family.  Sheala, at age 22, learned her biological mother told her siblings she was stillborn.. This is how she started her reunion – returning from the dead.

Sheala has been a staunch advocate for open records, adoptee causes, and rights. She co-facilitated the Adoption News Service (ANS) newsletter and is co-moderator of Black Adoptee Support and Education (BASE). She was featured in “Six Word Adoption Memoirs.”

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After birth, Michelle remained in an incubator, in the NICU for 2 months. No kangaroo care, no biological recall, smell, feel; alone. She still can’t acknowledge that the baby was her. Michelle was released to her adoptive parents care from the hospital. Less than a year later her adoptive parents welcomed their biological daughter, her little sister. Michelle has always known she was adopted and told that it didn’t matter, but they sure didn’t talk about it.

At age 19. Michelle was surprised into reunion with her biological father and most of her paternal family. Michelle's biological parents married after she was born, and had two more daughters, 8 and 10 years younger than her. Her biological mother passed away when she was 11 and never met. Nine years later her older sister found their biological father. Two adoptees in one family. She is in contact with some biological family, some have since rejected her. "This is what makes being an adoptee so fucking hard"; having to protect everyone's feelings while ignoring her own. Michelle has been juggling everyone's feelings for so long that when she started to express her truth, she angered a lot of people.

https://www.amazon.com/Flourish-Experience-Adoptee-Healing-Community-ebook/dp/B0B6FVPHQM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2O93G2ROGFLSW&keywords=the+flourish+experience&qid=1693577777&sprefix=the+florish+expe%2Caps%2C145&sr=8-1

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Website: https://susanharness.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Bitterroot-Salish-Transracial-Adoption-American/dp/1496219570/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1F2R850AXUEQB&keywords=bitterroot%3A+a+salish+memoir&qid=1693314579&sprefix=bitterroot+a+salish+memoir%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-1

YouTube TedxMileHigh Stage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uORk3TGSCl4

"On The Page" with https://adoptee-voices.com/writing-groups/

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Always in the back of her mind was her biological roots. After a chance finding of the show Long Lost Family on TLC she decided to go for it and her world changed after she was reunited with her biological family on reality TV. She now lives her full story with both sides of her family and is looking to move forward with life living it to the fullest while also helping others. She is does not shy away from the issues that adoption raises in the life of adoptees and works to help children coming after her and adults to see their fullest potential while being a part of a non-ideal situation. 

"Long Lost Family", Season 6, episode 8 https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/720311/s06-e08-switched-in-the-hospital

Alieshaia was in foster care as an infant when a horrific accident led to her being hospitalized for months at just 2 years old. She was then fostered by a family who adopted her at 5 years old. 

Alieshaia has been in reunion with her biological parents and siblings for a number of years now. It was not until she began attending an adoptee lounge and regular therapy sessions when she realized she was not alone with her internalized feelings and experiences as a person of color in a predominantly white environment.

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Lena is also an adoptee of a closed adoption in 1966 and engaged in reunion with both of her first families. She is also a photographer with an emphasis social documentary story telling, wildlife, landscape and portrait photography. Some of her greatest joys are spending time in nature, rare and sweet moments with her two grown daughters and to be behind the camera telling stories and shining a light on people, places and sentient beings. For her, these stories matter now more than ever.”

Her recent social documentary work The Womxn’s Power Project can be found on Instagram at @womxnspowerproject. Other bodies of work can be found on her website at www.wildsoulphotographycolorado.com. 

GA-Genetic Attraction https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/eLibrary/Content/Internet/327/857/6802/42109163456.pdf

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 https://linktr.ee/corissasaintlaurent 

https://corissasaintlaurent.com/

https://theeverydaymystic.com/

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Barbara Robertson from Season 1, episode 9

Daryn Watson from Season 3, episode 43

Cynthia from Season 1, episode 7

Nancy McCaughey from Season 2, episode 22.

Danielle Orr from Season 5, episode 79

Carmen Hinkley from Season 1, episode 15

Lorah Gerald from Season 2, episode 29

Nomi Kaie from Season 2, episode 31

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It was no secret that Patrick was adopted once people took one look at his adoptive mother in any kind of social setting.  He was bullied in school for having an Asian mother and often kids would slant their eyes to him.

The loss of his adoptive dad as a young boy only enhanced his abandonment issues and living with an adoptive mom who spoke broken English while he didn’t speak Japanese made their relationship challenging to say the least.  After finding his birth family at the age of 45, Patrick began going to therapy to deal with the myriad issues that he had growing up.  He remembers his counselor telling him that he was “perfectly suited for brokenness “ because of all the things that happened to him; being adopted, losing his father at 4 years old, having an adoptive mother who didn’t truly understand how to help him. Patrick doesn’t regret searching for and finding his birth mom.  It was all a part of Gods master plan. 

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

It also led him to seek a deeper understanding of his own journey and that of his birth mother, ultimately inspiring him to write his debut novel, "I Will See You Again...Hearts Will Sing," available at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5DRHHMW.  The story is fictional but seeks to probe the very real feelings of displacement, abandonment, insecurity, and doubt that haunt some adoptees, while also exploring the loneliness and emotions of a young birth mother in that era.

He has been a practicing lawyer for over twenty-five years, is married for 27 years, and is a proud father of two adult children.  Late in life, he found swimming to be a source of peace and balance, and, against his better judgment, has done several open water distance swims.

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Brad is in reunion with several members of his biological family and was able to help successfully advocate for his fathers release from prison.  His writing and podcasts can be found at https://linktr.ee/LDA_BRAD. and you may follow him on Instagram at a_late_discovery.

Recommended resource: https://righttoknow.us/ https://adoptee-voices.com/

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Dr. Pavao has done extensive training, both nationally and internationally.  She is a lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and she has consulted to various public and private child welfare agencies, adoption agencies, schools, and community groups, as well as probate and family court judges, lawyers, and clergy.  Additionally, she has worked closely with individuals and families touched by adoption, foster care, and other complex blended family constructions.

Recommended Resources: "Twice Born" by Betty Jean Lifton https://www.amazon.com/Twice-Born-Memoirs-Adopted-Daughter/dp/007037824X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3KMZOXWTVRQ1N&keywords=betty+jean+lifton+twice+born&qid=1687104498&sprefix=betty+jean+lifton+twice+born%2Caps%2C126&sr=8-1 and "Journey of the Adopted Self" by Betty Jean Lifton https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Adopted-Self-Quest-Wholeness/dp/0465036759/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CXAUOLDKCZVY&keywords=betty+jean+lifton+books&qid=1687104562&sprefix=betty+jean+lifton+books%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1

"The Adoption Triangle" byArthur D. Sorosky, M.D. Annette Baron, M.S.W. Reuben Pannor, M.S.W. https://www.amazon.com/Adoption-Triangle-Arthur-D-Sorosky/dp/0941770109/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GEBV6DJF45TJ&keywords=the+adoption+triangle&qid=1687104691&sprefix=the+adoption+triangle%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1

"Lethal Secrets" by Annette Baran and Reuben Pannor https://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Secrets-Annette-Baran/dp/0941770117/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ZT2EAARPED16&keywords=annette+baran&qid=1687104839&sprefix=annette+barn%2Caps%2C128&sr=8-1

"The Family of Adoption" by Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao https://www.amazon.com/Family-Adoption-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/0807028274/ref=sr_1_1?crid=33K2CZJ5D72ZD&keywords=the+family+of+adoption&qid=1687104791&sprefix=the+family+of+adoption%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1

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https://www.lizdebetta.com/

Operation Fog Lift: https://www.facebook.com/events/283578407577430/?ref=newsfeed

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https://www.daniellegaudette.com/

https://info.bodynbrain.com/smp

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He was welcomed into his paternal family in 2018, and has had contact with his maternal side since 2019

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https://www.unravelingadoption.com/

https://www.unravelingadoption.com/APtitude

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Recycled, his first book, chronicles the behind-the-scenes, reluctant, and subconscious journey exploring the impact of being relinquished and adopted during the baby-scoop era of the mid-sixties, raised with strong family nurturing, the shocking discovery of his nature, and finally a reconciliation of the two.

He was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, has lived and worked in cities like Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C., and at the time of publication was moving to Hartford, Connecticut. He’s the proud father of two soon-to-be-adult children, who live in Rhode Island.

https://www.amazon.com/Recycled-Reluctant-Search-Through-Nurture/dp/1990688136/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2YTX74PZHB4CS&keywords=recycled+jack+rocco&qid=1684782427&sprefix=reclycled+jack%2Caps%2C129&sr=8-1

Website: https://ingeniumbooks.com/recycled/

Recommended resource: "Journey of the Adopted Self" by Betty Jean Lifton

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Chris was relinquished at birth, adopted at 4 years old, relinquished again 10 months later when the adopted father died suddenly. By the time he reached 11 years old I had been moved 5 times. Never having had a father, he count 7 mothers that it took to get me to high school graduation. 

Chris married the daughter of the last family who raised him after high school. They were married for 25 years and have 2 great sons from that relationship. 

After reuniting with his birth family 20 years ago, he found out the state of California has no record of his birth. Therapy has helped him come to a realization he was no longer obligated to hold so many secrets and lies and “came out” as a gay man living my truth in 2009.

Chris currently attends support meetings with CUB (Concerned United Birthparents) helping other adopted people and birthparents navigate the reunion process.

Recommended resource: CUB (Concerned United Birth Parents)

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Her film Reckoning with The Primal Wound marks the first adoptee & first mother team to produce a film about primal wound theory. Gena Vazquez is the Executive Producer. Watch: Reckoning with The Primal Wound

Variety Feature on The Wavys www.thewavys.org

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Following his discovery, Fred struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, eventually finding sobriety and his need for spiritual, mental, and physical health.  A father of three grown children, Fred currently lives and maintains a small hobby farm in Southeastern Wisconsin. 

Links: Facebook: www.facebook.com/fred.nicora/    

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/frednicora/

LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/in/fred-nicora-4050857a/     

Website: Forbidden Roots | Fred Nicora

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/456700751111085

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1385763408504812

Recommended Resource: NPE: A Story Guide for Unexpected DNA Discoveries https://www.amazon.com/s?k=npe+a+story+guide+for+unexpected+dna+discoveries&crid=1HXI4ZTUH2VNM&sprefix=NPE+a+%2Caps%2C101&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_6

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https://www.hiraethhopeandhealing.com/?fbclid=IwAR1mKu4WhmEl8U7Vcy5r_Pd_Qqa7drS1AtU_Usl6QaN6Tvdg0Z_Vjef75CQ

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Cindy was adopted at 3 months and has always known. She always had the desire to know her story and identity Her adoptive parents fully supported her. Cindy trying to get her records and original birth certificate, at the legally allowed age of 18, led to the discovery of the difficulty adoptees face in doing so.

The hurdles that challenge adoptees drove Cindy to become an advocate for all her fellow “cribmates”; an endearing term that we’ve coined ourselves. Her advocacy includes educating the public on separation trauma, family preservation, and abolishing adoption. When DNA testing became available, she became obsessed with helping others find their biological roots as a search angel, specifically now helping Amerasian “kids” identify their American GI birth fathers.

Cindy has been married to her amazing husband, Mark, for 30 years. Together, they've raised 3 awesome adult children. She enjoys genealogy, reading, beaches, pools, shopping, and of course, spending time with my 3 beautiful grandchildren.

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Laura has had two scenes from her memoir chosen for the San Diego Memoir Showcase. Her scene, 'Secret Son' is published in the award winning anthology 'Shaking the Tree'. Her scene 'Do They Know?' was selected as one of the ten winners for the San Diego Memoir Showcase in 2018. It was published in 2019 in Amazon Best Seller and Award winning Shaking The Tree 2 and Shaking The Tree 3. She is a current member of the International Women Writers Guild and President of the San Diego Memoir Writers Association. Laura's memoir is 'You’ll Forget This Ever Happened'. Check out her website for more information regarding her memoir.

https://www.lauralengel.com

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Adele Rodriguez was born in China, first adopted to America and later moved to France. She states, "Being an adoptee not only makes me standout, but it makes me, me. Living in an orphanage wasn’t all that bad, because it was my first home. I didn’t have anything that belonged to just me growing up, but I do have my story. That is mine.  Even though I don’t know my past or where I come from, God has given me a new identity as a wife and a mom. I'm forever grateful to God for the family I have now."

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Given her passion for adoption reform, Heather served as the Communications and Development Manager at The Donaldson Adoption Institute from 2016 to 2017. She also was on the Board of Directors of Also-Known-As, Inc. (AKA) from 2015 to 2016 and ran a monthly session for preteen adoptees for All Together Now in 2015 to 2016.

In 2017, Heather transitioned from nonprofit communication to academia. She started her teaching journey as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies at CUNY Baruch College. In 2022, Heather was appointed to a full-time Lecturer position. She teaches Professional Speech Communication, Introduction to Business Communication and Business Communication. Her classes blend theoretical concepts in communication, career development skills including interviewing and networking, and self-care and self-love tools including positive affirmations and mindfulness. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Master of Public Administration from Baruch College.

Heather is also the Founder and Owner of Huh Healing Hub LLC. She earned her Usui Reiki Master Certification from Lily Rubinstein at The Center of Inner Wisdom in 2018.  After moving through feelings of abandonment, grief and shame as a Korean adoptee and motherless daughter, she is deeply devoted to helping others heal themselves through Reiki, meditation and writing. 

In 2019, Heather created her Reiki company (Huh Healing Hub) in New York City. She included her birth surname (Huh) into the business name to honor her motherland of Korea. She offers private Reiki sessions and leads Reiki circles and workshops focused on mindfulness, unconditional self-love and transformation.

Aside from her teaching and healing work, Heather serves on the Advisory Committee of Also-Known-As. She also continues to facilitate virtual writing and meditation workshops for AKA.

Heather lives in Queens, NY with her husband. She loves to explore different countries, hike, and connect to her inner child through coloring books.

Here is a list of Heather’s personal essays, podcast episode, blog post and video interview about her adoptee journey and Reiki company:

October and December 2014

• NBCNews.com: A Korean Adoptee Starts the Search for Her Birth Family (personal essay)
• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/korean-adoptee-starts-search-her-birth-family-n209891
• NBCNews.com: The Search for a Birth Family Leads to Seoul and Back Again (personal essay)
• https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/search-birth-family-leads-seoul-back-again-n258911

December 2020

• Adapted Podcast (Season 4, Episode 8: Heather Schultz): Interview with Kaomi Lee (Host of Adapted) about Heather's adoption journey and mission to help others survive and move past pain and trauma (podcast episode)
• https://adaptedpodcast.com/2020/12/01/season-4-episode-8-heather-schultz/

June 2021

• The Korea Daily: Looking For Mom Series -- Video Interview with Brian Choi (Business Desk Staff Editor) (video interview)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO5Hh-Y525s&t=1420s

April 2022

IAMAdoptee: Reiki Master Heather Schultz Gittens and Her Journey to Healing (blog post)

• https://iamadoptee.org/reiki-master-heather-schultz-and-her-journey-to-healing/

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT.

Emma is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth and has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount the many struggles she faced. Her traumas were born from being an adoptee who struggled with being forced to wear an impossible mask of playing the part of the “good adopted child.” Because being relinquished and adopted has colored her life, it’s Emma’s desire to be part of the movement that is dedicated to helping bring forth change to the way our world views the needs and support of adopted individuals. She believes strongly in adoptees finding their voice and discovering their truth to have a solid sense of self and to reclaim their identities. Through telling her story, Emma is dedicated to help redefine the narrative of adoption to include the entire complex truth.

This memoir is Emma Stevens’ second book. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism and has completed Master’s level course work in psychology, specializing in Marriage, Family, and Child counseling. She has two adult children and two cat children who she adores. 

Available on Amazon "A Fire Is Coming" https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Coming-Emma-Stevens/dp/B0BT76LPGF/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2M3ZRU1DXHBRL&keywords=a+fire+is+coming+by+emma+stevens&qid=1679740168&sprefix=a+fire+is+%2Caps%2C138&sr=8-1

"The Gathering Place: An Adoptee's Story" https://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Place-Adoptees-Story/dp/B09HH8PDGL/ref=sr_1_1?crid=22XULK3D0XVXU&keywords=the+gathering+place+by+emma+stevens&qid=1679740223&sprefix=the+gathering+Place%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-1

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Professionally, Catie is a mental health therapist specialized in working with adopted adults and all members of the adoption constellation through her private practice, True Story Counseling Services (www.truestorycounselingservices.com). She is currently writing a memoir about her experience of relinquishment trauma and reunion. Catie is often active in online adoptee community spaces finding great healing in these settings. She is located in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate NY with her husband and English bulldog, Matilda.

Recommended Resources: The Flourish Experience:The Power of Healing in Community https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+flourish+experience+adoptee+book&crid=1AHVBDYM1OVU8&sprefix=the+flourish+exp%2Caps%2C134&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_16

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Amy has been married to a wonderfully supportive husband for over 30 years. They have 3 amazing adult children and 2 golden retrievers.  She enjoys the outdoors and spending time with family and friends.

Amy Hansen is a guest of the following podcasts: Pulled By The Root, Wandering Tree, This Adoptee Life and Adoption:The Making of Me

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Hannah is an advocate for open records, and supports a push for a national apology to the Baby Scoop generation as well as more transparency in the industry across the board. 

Mentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX2Vm18TYwg&t=186s

Music by Corey Quinn and invitational by MDT

Referenced: The Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Music by Corey Quinn

Ed took an early retirement after finding his biological family and needing time to, “find myself”. In Reunion with biological family, and still close to adoptive family Ed just consider them one big family now, from his point of view. He married Steven Frank in 2009, and in relationship since 1982.   Steven was born Deaf and went blind later in life.  Consequently, Ed knows ASL, and tactile ASL. He is active in his church, St. Barnabas Church of the Deaf (Episcopal), as volunteer.

A member of Sons of the American Revolution after proving descent from patriot ancestor Joshua Smith, with the help of his natural mother, who is a former member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Ed is active in his local chapter.  His late natural father was also active in the SAR, having served a term as President of the DC Society of the SAR.

Ed is in Year Three of the Master Artist Program at The Compass Atelier, in Rockville, MD. His website is epscottart.com

Ed referenced Adoptees United and Gregory Luce https://adopteesunited.org/

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Join Valerie on social media; http://www.instagram.com/valnaimanauthor https://www.facebook.com/valnaimanauthor

Valerie's Website: http://valerienaiman.com

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Fireside Adoptees https://www.facebook.com/groups/1411791922534076

Fireside Adoptees Public Page https://www.facebook.com/fireside.adoptees.and.allies

Greg Gentry's conversation with Lori Holden https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W3oon6TivY

NAAP presentation on Geneological Non-Facility https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2El1j3kfYHw&t=6s

Referenced: Wandering Tree Podcast, hosted by Lisa Ann

Music by Corey Quinn

@ghostkigdomis available for the public to rent. The direct link is: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ghostkingdom

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Books published by Lora K. Joy: Nobody Looks Like Me: An Adoptee Experience https://www.amazon.com/NoBODY-Looks-Like-Me-Experience/dp/1736990039/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Lora+K.+Joy&qid=1674087157&sr=8-1 Self Attunement: An Adoptee Superpower https://www.amazon.com/Self-Attunement-Superpower-Lora-Joy/dp/1736990047/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Lora+K.+Joy&qid=1674087157&sr=8-2 Goodbye Hypervilgilance: Healing Adoptee Worry https://www.amazon.com/Goodbye-Hypervigilance-Healing-Adoptee-Worry/dp/1736990012/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Lora+K.+Joy&qid=1674087157&sr=8-3

The Flourish Experience: The Power of Adoptee Healing in Community https://www.amazon.com/Flourish-Experience-Adoptee-Healing-Community/dp/B0B4TY22JC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TZ6F33JZCOCN&keywords=the+flourish+experience&qid=1674087538&sprefix=the+flourish+experience%2Caps%2C119&sr=8-1

https://adoptee-voices.com/

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Isaac mentions interracial/transracial adoptees on Instagram Jessica Luciere  @jmluciere and Hannah Matthews @Hannahjacksonmatthews

Isaac Etter can be reached at isaac@identitylearning.co Website: https://www.identitylearning.co/ https://isaacetter.com/etterconsulting

Music by Corey Quinn

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/376314725?pwd=NnZwcjhlT2hOMU81NHdNaUVxSFhyZz09

Listen to Thriving Adoptees on iTunes at https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/thriving-adoptees-inspiration-for-adoptees-adoptive/id1563041217

Listen to Thriving Adoptees on other platforms https://thelink.bio/simonjbenn

Follow Thriving Adoptees on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thrivingadoptees

Visit Simon's website https://www.thrivingadoptees.com/

Rupert Spira https://rupertspira.com/

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Music by Corey Quinn

She is a published poet who shares her wisdom from her lived experience.

Recommended resources: Damon Davis podcast host, https://www.whoamireallypodcast.com/

"Born in June Raised in April" hosted by April Dinwoodie https://aprildinwoodie.com/the-podcast

National Adoptees And Parents (NAAP) https://www.facebook.com/NAAPUnited Untangling Our Roots Summit http://www.untanglingourroots.org/

Adoption Knowledge Affiliates (AKA) https://www.adoptionknowledge.org/

Haley Radke, podcast host https://www.adopteeson.com/ Remembrance Day Episode/October 30, 2022

Anne Heffron, published author https://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Look-Adopted/dp/B07WFX9744/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4EE130YF8SE3&keywords=you+don%27t+look+adopted&qid=1672235297&sprefix=you+don%27t+look+adopted%2Caps%2C1827&sr=8-1 https://www.anneheffron.com/

10 Foundations For a Meaningful Life (No Matter What's Happened) by Pam Cordon, MFT https://www.amazon.com/Foundations-Meaningful-Matter-Whats-Happened/dp/1982241349/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2IIS8LGRH2QMN&keywords=10+foundations+for+a+meaningful+life+book&qid=1672759939&sprefix=10+foundat%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1

Julian Washio Collette https://peregrineadoptee.wordpress.com/

Dr. Gabor Mate' https://drgabormate.com/

Paul Sunderland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX2Vm18TYwg&t=177s Susan Ito https://www.thesusanito.com/classes

Amanda Medina, the host of "This Adoptee Life" https://thisadopteelife.com/ Gayle H. Swift https://gaylehswift.com/about-gayle-swift/

https://www.jenniferdyanghoston.com/about Podcast host

This episode is dedicated to all the aunts and uncles.

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Poets: Langston Hughes; "Dreams" and Nayirah Waheed; "The Becoming" (read by Nomi)

Unknown author (read by JR Calhoun)

Poets: Ralph Waldo Emerson; "Write it on your heart" and Rudyard Kipling; "If" (read by Jennifer Dyan Ghoston)

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitationals by MDT

Akara is a domestic, baby scoop era, closed adoption, late discovery adopted person. She is estranged from her adoptive family and unacknowledged by her birth family. She is a writer to help her navigate the multi layered trauma of relinquishment. Akara is a board member of AKA, Adoption Knowledge Affiliates, to support the endeavors of connection, education, and support to the adoption triad. She is part of the Adoptee Voices Cohort through which several of her writing pieces have been featured and published in the e-Zine.. She also contributed to a short recorded presentation for the Rudd Adoption Research Program Conference.

Living on the sacred land of Sedona has offered Akara solace and healing; as well as time to reflect and write about her life under a different, more truthful, lens.  

You may find Akara here https://linktr.ee/akaraskye.

Zara Phillips and Dr. Gabor Mate' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CW_GdFG1KY&t=11s

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitationals by MDT

Sandi has always known about her adoption but only found out it was not handled legally when she received her records at the age of 42.  Born in Washington State but raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin she has been in reunion with her first family for more than 25 years.

Sandi is a professional sign language interpreter.  She has a BA in journalism and an MA in Theology (but actually studied in Spirituality).  She’s married to a great guy she lovingly calls her “Emotional Support Spouse” at adoptee events.  She has 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren. Writing, hiking and traveling are her favorite pastimes.

In March 2023, Sandi will be a panelist on https://www.adoptionmosaic.com/

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitationals by MDT

Now, in this richly textured story of sisterhood and coming-of-age, Hayasaki’s SOMEWHERE SISTERS: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family (Algonquin Books; October 11, 2022) tells the girls’ incredible story from their perspectives, challenging conceptions about transnational and transracial adoption, Asian and Asian American identity, the nature versus nurture debate, poverty and privilege, and what it means to give a child a good life. https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Sisters-Adoption-Identity-Meaning/dp/1616209127/ref=sr_1_1?crid=F9DLYAL3ZHCQ&keywords=somewhere+sisters+a+story+of+adoption%2C+identity&qid=1669462823&sprefix=somewhere+sisters%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-1

Hayasaki, the author of The Death Class, is a former 2021-22 Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow and a 2018 Alicia Patterson Fellow. She has received awards from the Association of Sunday Feature Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

Music by Corey Quinn and Invitational by MDT

Author https://linktr.ee/SCMel

Mary Ellen Gambutti's lyrical vignettes are rich and diverse, reflecting her post WW11 SC birth, relinquishment, and adoption by native New Yorkers stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, SC, her 1950s and '60s childhood, adopted identity, the special consequences of her military family's transience, and her quest for family of origin. She also writes about her professional gardening career, and her survival of a hemorrhagic stroke. Her personal essays have been published in many literary journals. She and her husband, Phil, live in Lewes, DE with their rescued Chihuahua. I Must Have Wandered is available in e-book and softcover at these digital storefronts. Or, ask at your library or independent bookshop.

Music by Corey Quinn

Anita is a passionate, creative, transracial adoptee. Adopted with her identical twin sister, she grew up on a chicken farm with five siblings and considers her faith and family to be most important to her. She has a bachelor's degree in Social Work and is presently pursuing her Master's degree in Social work and a Certificate in Expressive Arts. When she isn't engaged in coursework or academic activities, you can almost always find her grabbing a bite with friends or working on her first book, to be released early next year (2023). 

Music by Corey Quinn

Ryan's YouTube video; "Me Opening Up-My Life Story” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C-LNcmxdFk

Paul Sunderland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX2Vm18TYwg

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

She met members of her biological family between the ages of 17-21 and is honored to understand pieces of her story that were once missing.

She has been married to her husband Eric for 24 years - the person who taught her she was worthy of unconditional love. They have one daughter through birth who is in college and another daughter through international adoption who is in high school. 

Her daughters have taught her how to love the way another needs to be loved and the value of caring for her own story first so she can parent with intentionality. 

Jennifer currently volunteers at her church supporting other moms and mentoring teen girls. She works with The Adoption Connection and is an Enneagram coach - a job that combines her love of learning, teaching and relationships.

If you are interested in discovering the Enneagram as a tool to help you process your adoption story email Jennifer at jhiltebeitel@outlook.com to set up your first coaching session or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with her at https://calendly.com/jhiltebeitel/free-consult?month=2022-11 to see if you would benefit from Enneagram coaching.

References: The Adoption Connection, podcast with Melissa Corkum and Lisa Qualls

Books referenced: "The Road Back To You" by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile "The Journey Toward Wholeness" by Suzanne Stabile "The Path Between Us" by Suzanne Stabile "The Story of You; An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self" by Ian Morgan Cron

Music by Corey Quinn

Katie is an adoptee who has always known she was adopted. Abuse and neglect by adoptive parents growing up led her to feeling unloved or unwanted by them. As a younger person, Katie felt so broken and joined Al-Anon and (ACA) Adult Children of Alcoholics for healing. She still felt like something was missing in her recovery. A friend gave Katie the book, The Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier, and she then sought out podcasts about adoptees which all proved to be great resources.

Katie never had the desire to look for her birth parents, but an acquaintance insisted, and found maternal and paternal birth parents within days in 1996. She has met both birth families and have different relationships with them today.

References: The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and Searching For Anna Fisher by Florence Fisher 

Adoptee Remembrance Day is October 30th

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In 2012, Shelby finally brought this dream of hers alive, and released her first video about adoption on her YouTube Channel - Shelby Redfield Kilgore. Almost a decade later, Shelby continues to share about her own story, as well as others. Being able to help others tell their truths, has been her heart work. 

You can find more about her work and mission at www.wearemirrorlight.com, along with a book she helped put together with another adoptee (Veronica), called Rooted in Adoption - A Collection of Adoptee Reflections. 

YouTube Channel - Shelby Redfield Kilgore https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC29mX9k1rO1TXv7ubmZDlg

Website - https://www.wearemirrorlight.com

Email - shelby.kilgore@wearemirrorlight.com

Music by Corey Quinn

References: Primal Wound by Nancy Verrier, Coming Home to Self by Nancy Verrier, Adoption Healing by Joe Soll, LCSW, Journey of the Adopted Self by Betty Jean Lifton

Paul Sunderland YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX2Vm18TYwg

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As an adoptee and adoptive mom, she is passionate about giving the adoption community the words that help them make sense of their experiences.

Melissa and her husband, Patrick having six kids by birth and adoption have taught them a lot about what creates thriving parent-child relationships…and what doesn't. 

Connect with Melissa by following "The Adoption Connection" podcast and @postadoptionresources on Instagram

Melissa's email address: Melissa@theadoptionconnection.com

Suzanne Stabile is the author of "The Journey Toward Wholeness".

Music by Corey Quinn

website: https://www.digangiauthor.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Gail married Johnny Tubbs in 1993, with a blended family of six Children (first-born son, my second-born/deceased son,  four step children, 17-Grand Children, 1-Great Grandson and Twins on the way in October 2022.

In 1977, when Gail's deceased son Christopher was an infant, she discovered that Massage was good for infants and toddlers.  This is also when she began the search for her first-born.  Massage as a profession stayed on her mind from that time until she became a Certified Massage Therapist in 1997.  Today, after having worked at Spas, Chiropractic offices and as an Instructor of Massage Therapy core curriculum, she is still working in the field of Massage Therapy with a steady clientele at her home studio. 

Gail as a 15-year old birth mother in 1967, she chose to relinquish him to adoption rather than have him grow up, in what she considered, a dysfunctional family. She prayed to God that someone would adopt him and give him everything he wanted and needed.  When Gail found Drew Berry in 2003, she discovered that God had indeed answered her prayers. Drew had been adopted by a Public School Teacher and his wife, a Nurse who could not have children.  He became their first child.

Drew has a blended family of a wife, 6 children, 1 grandson and twin grandchildren on the way. He and his wife just finished building a house in an affluent area of Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas.  Gail and Drew cherish each other as family and she loves him so much. They are in regular contact with each other.

This episode is lovingly dedicated to Gail's second son, Christopher Elliott Bruce, 08/23/77-10/26/93

Music by Corey Quinn

Lynn is a Peruvian American adoptee as well as a parent by birth and adoption. She has published multiple essays at her blog, No Apologies For Being Me and in various adoption anthologies.  In 2015, she created and self-published The Adoptee Survival Guide:  Adoptees Share Their Wisdom and Tools, https://www.amazon.com/Adoptee-Survival-Guide-Adoptees-Wisdom/dp/1508544549/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZVAU3Q8N7TI9&keywords=Lynn+grubb&qid=1666114857&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjU3IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=lynn+grubb%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1

Using genetic genealogy, she was able to identify her paternal ancestry and now helps other adoptees do the same.

https://noapologiesforbeingme.blogspot.com/

Music by Corey Quinn

Melinda A. Warshaw's memoir, "A Legitimate Life; A Forbidden Journey of Self-Discovery" is available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Legitimate-Life-Forbidden-Journey-Self-Discovery-ebook/dp/B0081KAI58/ref=sr_1_1?crid=29I5RV61KZDFS&keywords=A+legitimate+life+Melinda+warshaw&qid=1666114255&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjE2IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=a+legitimate+life+melinda+warshaw%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1

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His memoir "Becoming Patrick; A Memoir" is available on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Patrick-Memoir-McMahon-ebook/dp/B006VXS2FK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GA2VG8JYWW6K&keywords=becoming+Patrick+Patrick+mcmahon&qid=1666115122&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjMzIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=becoming+patrick+patrick+mcmahon%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1

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Janet has advanced training to meet the needs of the Adopted Child and Family. She is a Registered Play Therapist Supervisor, a Trust Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI) Practitioner and she is trained in Level I Theraplay. Janet is attachment-focused and has a clinical foundation in Gestalt Theory. Her personal connection to adoption is that she is a “baby-scoop” era Adoptee and an advocate for adoptee rights. She is an expert on being adopted.  She has been adopted her whole life.  As an adoptee, she has a unique perspective and understands the clinical aspects of adoption trauma.

Music by Corey Quinn

References mentioned in this episode: The Adoptee Voices Writing Group created by Sara Easterly; adoptee-voices.com

http://www.jeanhouston.com/Jean-Houston/

ervinlaszlo.com

https://www.ramdass.org/

https://pemachodronfoundation.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX2Vm18TYwg&t=168s Paul Sunderland

https://angelaasatrian.com/media/

https://www.ekrfoundation.org/elisabeth-kubler-ross/biography/

https://www.facebook.com/danielle.orr.10

Music by Corey Quinn

Books:

Ann Fessler “The Girls Who Went Away”

"The Gathering Place" - Emma Stevens

"The Lies that Bind" - Laureen Pitman

"Tree of Strangers" - Barbara Sumner 

"Searching for Mom: A Memoir" - Sara Easterly

@Because Adoption (Mary Herbert) on Instagram

Adoptee Voices Writing Group founded by Sara Easterly

(Co-facilitators; Ridghaus, Alice Stephens, Kate Murphy and Jennifer Dyan Ghoston) www.adoptee-voices.com

Betty Jean Lifton “Twice Born”

Jean Strauss “Beneath a tall tree” and “Birthright”

Nancy Verrier “Coming Home To Self”

Julian Washio Collette (Blog) Peregrine Adoptee: Wandering Reflections of a Life in Fragments

Podcasts:

Black to the Beginning hosted by Dr. Samantha Coleman and Sandria Washington

Adoption: The Making of Me hosted by Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne

The Adoption Files - Ande Stanley

Who Am I Really? - Damon Davis

Adoptees On and Adoptees Off Script - Haley Radkey

Pulled By By the Root - Heidi Marble

Wandering Tree - Lisa Ann 

Adopted Feels - Hana and Ryan

Adoption: The Making of Me - Louise Browne and Sarah Reinhardt 

This Adoptee Life - Amanda Medina

Other Recommendations:

"Adoption Mosaic" founded by Astrid Castro

Fireside Adoptees on Facebook (Private and Public Groups)

Adoptees Connect - state chapters / groups

Adopteereading.com

Bookshop.org/shop/reunionlandpress.

Music by Corey Quinn

Julian currently lives in a small cabin with his wife, Lisa, behind a monastery in the coastal wilderness of Big Sur, California, and is working on a memoir exploring the intersection of adoption, healing, and spirituality. 

His Blog, "Peregrine Adoptee: Wandering Reflections on a Life in Fragments" contains many of his published pieces.

The Nothing Place: https://peregrineadoptee.wordpress.com/2021/05/28/the-nothing-place/

The Nothing Place: Searching for Mother: https://peregrineadoptee.wordpress.com/2021/08/05/the-nothing-place-searching-for-mother/

Paul Sunderland, “Addiction and Adoption”: https://youtu.be/3e0-SsmOUJI

Heart Song: https://peregrineadoptee.wordpress.com/2022/04/06/heart-song/ 

Email address: thelittleworker@gmail.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Julian currently lives in a small cabin with his wife, Lisa, behind a monastery in the coastal wilderness of Big Sur, California, and is working on a memoir exploring the intersection of adoption, healing, and spirituality. 

His Blog, "Peregrine Adoptee: Wandering Reflections on a Life in Fragments" contains many of his published pieces.

Dear Adoption, Are You Proud of Me?: https://peregrineadoptee.wordpress.com/2021/11/14/dear-adoption-are-you-proud-of-me/

Gift: https://peregrineadoptee.wordpress.com/2021/12/03/gift/

Email address: thelittleworker@gmail.com

"The Journey Toward Wholeness" by Suzanne Stabile

Music by Corey Quinn

Adam has a Master of Organizational Leadership degree, Bachelor of Science in communications, and is a newly accepted Doctoral of Education in Leadership candidate. He is a communications administrator for Vanderbilt University. 

Adam volunteers currently in the Nashville and Murfreesboro area in music therapy services for at-risk children, community engagement, and aspires to help serve those in need around him. He is developing a blog for personal development and enjoys the following hobbies: writing, public speaking, acting, singing, hiking, binge-watching tv show series, and spending quality time with friends and family. Being a part of this adoption community has enabled Adam to seek answers, wisdom, and healing, and become a positive representation for adoptees who are seeking, healing, and asking out in the world. 

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Each chapter of Mary's life has brought new questions and curiosities that many will never understand. Walking through parenthood, or young adulthood or even your later in life chapters learning about where you came from can be alarming and frankly disconcerting. 

Pairing with someone who has been through the wringer as far as a story of adoptee search and reunification is a benefit only another adoptee can provide.

Mary Herbert is on Instagram @becauseadoption and her website is Becauseadoption.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Since 1988, D. Yvonne Rivers Aka Phoebe has been a champion of a cause, from business success, domestic violence, re-entry, and adoption community. One facet of this global business expert is an esteemed speaker, facilitator, and trainer across the globe on four continents.

Another facet of this woman started in 1973 with the birth of her son who she championed for family assistance for support to raise as an unwed mother at age 19. Life changes as she ‘did her best’ to place her son in a loving home. Yvonne had such ambition and brilliance, finishing a pre-med program in 3 years and accepted to medical school. 

Yvonne’s journey to become a ‘change-maker in her life and others began in 1973. Over 30 years, she continued the search with letters, journaling, speaking on panels and processing her grief and loss alone. Yvonne was unrelenting and never gave up. 2015 gave her a breakthrough with finding a picture of her son on social media. With boldness, she reached out, not knowing whether she would get rejection or acceptance. 

The Courage of a Birth Mother Overcomes All.  Yvonne met her son in 2018. Through sitting in rooms of support groups and conferences, Yvonne found she had created a pathway of peace as a Birth Mother for herself and the “Now” is the time to help others in the adoption constellation. Yvonne launched “Birth Moms Real Talk podcast in June 2021. After Season One, BMRT podcast has reached over 185,000 persons and over five thousand downloads. BMRT hosts Saturday Chats with all members of the triad and has an audience who write letters and comments of the magnificence impact in their lives. 

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Jessica worked in high level dementia and Alzheimer’s care since 18 years of age due to her love for seniors. She's new to being a part of the adoption support community and can’t wait to experience more.

Jessica's recommendation of a Facebook group is called Search Angels for Adoptees https://www.facebook.com/groups/418960975230884

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Zhen E wrote an multi-award winning play loosely based upon her adoption story called “Black Box: An Adoption Story Choreopoem.”  She is a co-host of her own podcast Sick&Tired 2.0 as well as co-owner of the production company Sassy Bitches Productions.

She is still a published playwright, Hello Kitty obsessive and loves to hike with her husband.

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Laureen started blogging about her journey to discover her identity in 2013. As her own story began to evolve, she realized that there was a much larger truth that needed to be explored and shared. She wanted to bring her story to life—not just for herself and her family, but for other adoptees who yearn to learn their own truths and for families touched by adoption who want to understand and value the heart and soul of an adoptee. You can find her on-line at www.adoptionmytruth.com. Her memoir, The Lies That Bind, An Adoptee’s Journey Through Rejection, Redirection, DNA, and Discovery, was published in 2019.

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Fast forward to 1959, Pam's first year at college. When she signed up for creative writing, she had no idea she would be opening a door to thinking about her origins when the professor assigned students an essay imagining where they would be, and what they would be doing, four years after graduation.

Pam would go on for three decades to change the adoption laws in New Jersey which led to adoptees in that state being granted the right to request their original birth certificates. She credits her relationship with Florence Fisher in NYC being the beginning of her outstanding efforts in the adoption community with all members of the constellation. She continues to make contributions to support her fellow adoptees in their adoption journey.

Music by Corey Quinn

Julie's website: https://juliewetherby.com

Julie's memoir is titled "Identity Reclaimed Echoes of an Adoptee" available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Identity-Reclaimed-Adoptee-Julie-Wetherby/dp/1527207870/ref=sr_1_1?crid=LEBTIWPV2SR&keywords=identity+reclaimed&qid=1664291367&qu=eyJxc2MiOiItMC4wMSIsInFzYSI6IjAuMDAiLCJxc3AiOiIwLjAwIn0%3D&s=books&sprefix=identity+reclaimed%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C179&sr=1-1

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Craig has been in reunion with all members of his biological families since 1987. As an adopted person, he has experienced the depth of separation trauma from blood relatives, as well as the transformative, healing process of the mind, body, and spirit.

Craig is the creator and facilitator of Inside Out: The Expressive Arts Adoption Healing Seminar, which helps to identify deep wounds, challenges, and uses creative expression to foster healing.  He is also founder and facilitator of numerous post-reunion support and “growth” groups in NYC & Los Angeles as well as an all-male adoptee global virtual support group for twelve years. Craig is an Adoption Life Coach for: adoptees, biological parents, foster parents, adoptive parents, their families and significant others; and he specializes in the areas of general adoptions issues, search, reunion and post-reunion complexities.

Craig lists B.J. Lifton as a close friend and life-long mentor especially in his immediate post-reunion years, up until her passing. 

Craig resides in Los Angeles, California and currently facilitates a monthly support group in Los Angeles for all members of the adoption constellation. Craig also coaches and educates globally.

Craig can be contacted at craigshyman@gmail.com and you can find more information regarding Inside Out: The Expressive Arts Adoption Healing Seminar on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/insideoutadoption

Music by Corey Quinn

Veronica's recommendations include: "Help Me To Find My People" by Heather Andrea Williams

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us

www.therapyforblackgirls.com is a great resource

www.blackfemaletherapists.com

www.blacktherapistsrock.com

Buy "Rooted in Adoption-A Collection of Adoptee Reflections" and "Rooted in Adoption Journal" now on Amazon. Veronica's Instagram is @rootedinadoption0520

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

"From a Place of Love: My Adoption Journey", the film https://tubitv.com/movies/596100/from-a-place-of-love-my-adoption-journey

Music by Corey Quinn

Michele is an adoptee who searched successfully for her birth-father in New York before the state opened its records. She reclaimed her birth-name, Suzanne Gilbert, to write the novel, Tapioca Fire, that is the prequel to The Birth-Fathers’ Club. She teaches writing workshops for adoptees and donor-conceived people finding their #ownvoices. She speaks on panels for social workers, adoptive families, and intentional parents about birthright issues. Her approach, though well-researched, isn’t academic or clinical; she’s been an in-the-trenches adoptive stepmom too.

Most recently, a DNA test kit that came as a Chrismukkah present, revealed a sister! Their shared birth-father, and his complex effort at redemption later in life, inspired the story in one of the novellas.

Books authored by Michele Kriegman:

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Faith-Birth-Fathers-Michele-Kriegman/dp/1737947749/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3HLYMI6ML984Q&keywords=michele+kriegman&qid=1681999791&sprefix=michele+kri%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Memoir-Book-Birth-Fathers-Club/dp/1737947706/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HLYMI6ML984Q&keywords=michele+kriegman&qid=1681999791&sprefix=michele+kri%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Memoir-Book-Birth-Fathers-Club/dp/1737947706/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HLYMI6ML984Q&keywords=michele+kriegman&qid=1681999791&sprefix=michele+kri%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Tapioca-Fire-Suzanne-Gilbert/dp/1495305759/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3HLYMI6ML984Q&keywords=michele+kriegman&qid=1681999791&sprefix=michele+kri%2Caps%2C113&sr=8-5

Music by Corey Quinn

Joi's recommendations: https://adoptioncouncil.org/article/finding-joi-lessons-from-search-and-reunion/

https://www.miriamsheart.org

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Things-Adopted-Adoptive-Parents/dp/044050838X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2DR73OG34VL4C&keywords=20+things+adopted+kids+wish+their+adoptive+parents+knew&qid=1641908972&sprefix=20+things+adop%2Caps%2C909&sr=8-1

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This memoir is Emma Stevens’ first book. She has an undergraduate degree in journalism and has completed Master’s level course work in psychology, specializing in Marriage, Family, and Child counseling. She has two adult children and two cat children who she adores. 

"The Gathering Place, An Adoptee's Story" by Emma Stevens is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Gathering-Place-Adoptees-Story/dp/B09N597W34/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14Y5PL9XSYBVZ&keywords=the+gathering+place+by+emma+stevens&qid=1670335073&sprefix=the+gathering+place%2Caps%2C123&sr=8-1

Save the date, Sunday, May 15, 2022, 5pm at the Circle Cinema in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the first movie screen showing of the documentary “Reckoning with The Primal Wound” By Rebecca Autumn Sansom

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Oliver currently facilitates a DNA discovery virtual support group with Adoption Network Cleveland.

This episode was recorded on October 8, 2021.

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Kate is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a psychotherapy practice in Atlanta, GA. She specializes in working with members of the adoption constellation with a focus on adoptees. She knows that processing the loss and grief caused by relinquishment is challenging to do alone. Kate believes it's possible to understand yourself better, take charge, and live with more purpose and joy.

Recommendation: https://adoptionsupport.org/adoption-competency-initiatives/training-for-adoption-competency-tac/

Kate co-facilitates the Adoptee Voices Writing Group created by Sara Easterly.

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Betsie is an adoptee who searched for and was reunited with her birthparents and siblings in 1986, when she was in her mid-twenties. She emerged from that experience with strong convictions about the lifelong journey of adoption for all involved, and the need for systemic change. She found Adoption Network Cleveland in 1988, was a volunteer for the first 7 years, and has been the Executive Director since 1995.

With a wide array of programs and services, Adoption Network Cleveland has been recognized nationally as a successful model for effective service and advocacy for members of the adoption community including adoptees, adoptive, foster and kinship families, birthparents and siblings, youth in foster care and related professionals. 

Betsie has become a frequent spokesperson in the media and has led the organization to long-term success building innovative programs and having a strong advocacy voice. Major advocacy achievements include leading successful efforts to decrease barriers to permanency for youth lingering in foster care, and changing laws about access to records resulting in Ohio adoptees gaining access to their original birth certificates. Adoption Network Cleveland served as the lead agency of the Adopt Cuyahoga's Kids Initiative, a public-private-philanthropic partnership which was responsible for reducing the number of youth waiting for adoption in Cuyahoga County foster care from 1,700 in 2004 to approximately 500 in 2018. The organization has supported and assisted in thousands of successful adoptee/birthparent, adoptee/sibling and DNA searches and reunions, and has been a leader in supporting families to enhance permanency for children and youth. Over a 25+ year period, Betsie took the lead on legislation to reform Ohio's adoption laws, and as a result all Ohio-born adult adoptees adopted have access to to their original birth certificates, including 400,000 adoptees adopted in Ohio's formerly "closed" period (1964-1996) starting in March 2015. The story of her involvement is highlighted in the short documentary An Adoptee ROARed in Ohio: The Betsie Norris Story by Jean Strauss, which debuted at the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2014. Betsie is co-author of Journeys After Adoption: Understanding the Lifelong Process (Bergin & Garvey, 2002) and her story is featured in several books. Prior to her work in adoption and child welfare, Betsie worked as an RN in child and adolescent psychiatry. 

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Renecia is a late-discovery adoptee who was raised by same-race parents. At the age of 22, her parents had the courage to share what she already knew in her core. It’s often said, adoption doesn’t guarantee a better life but a different life. Adoption is never perfect; brokenness is at its core, but she believes beauty can be exchanged for ashes.

Renecia’s warm southern tones and insightful expression can be found on Instagram (at) The Chosen RISING, a redemptive space to share heroic stories and find healing in faith and community.

The Chosen RISING gives permission to feel and an invitation to heal. The movement is about identity, breakthrough and restoration. It’s the sight and sound of the adult adoptee.

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

David Bohl facilitates Adoptee Paths to Recovery hosted by the National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP).

David lives in southeastern Wisconsin and works around and outside of the U.S. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 37 years, and relentlessly pursues Blue Mind (that mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peace, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment) that comes from being in and around the water).  

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She and her husband, Steve, split their time between NW Indiana and Sarasota. If she is not on her laptop, Julie is on the tennis court, or out exploring with her Nikon. 

Julie is currently working on a collection of personal essays and a second memoir.

Note: Julie’s debut memoir Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging released. It immediately became the #1 New Release in Family & Personal Growth on Amazon.Twice a Daughter has received a Gold Medal in Memoir from Living Now Books Awards and a Silver Medal in Biography & Memoir from the Nonfiction Author’s Association.

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He is a Genealogist, Late Discovery Adoptee at age 59, a father of five, grandfather of eleven, foster carer of many, discovery also revealed he had an Italian father and a mother of Australian Aboriginal & Scottish ethnicity. In 2017, Peter reunited with his mother & five maternal siblings. In 2018 Peter reunited with three paternal siblings, two surviving paternal aunts & many cousins, Peter also visited his father’s village in Calabria, Italy to visit his grave and meet family who have lived in that village for as long as living memory.

https://www.facebook.com/AdopteeRightsAU

Peter's recommended reading https://www.smh.com.au/national/last-wish-give-me-back-my-true-identity-says-adopted-man-20190330-p5195i.html

Music by Corey Quinn

This episode is lovingly dedicated in memory of Kyle Glantz.

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

"The Primal Wound" by Nancy Newton Verrier is the book referred to in this episode.

Music by Corey Quinn

Mark has been actively involved as a participant, writer, and speaker, in ongoing dialogues in the transracial adoption world, for over 21 years. He has written numerous articles on transracial adoption, and has been a contributing author to several anthologies written by teams of adult transracial adoptees, including "Outsiders Within," "Parenting As Adoptees," and "The Unknown Culture Club." This spring, he self-published his ebook, "Extraordinary Journey: The Lifelong Path of the Transracial Adoptee." It is available at markhaglandbook.com.

Mark is dedicated to supporting his fellow transracial adoptees on their lifelong journeys, and to educating transracially adoptive parents in their parenting journeys. He speaks and writes widely on transracial adoption. In his professional life, he is a magazine editor and health care journalist, and lives in Chicago.

Music by Corey Quinn

This episode is the last one during National Adoption Awareness Month (NAAM2021) and I want to thank all of the adoptees who shared a part of their adoption story along with words of wisdom on this podcast.

Music by Corey Quinn

Born in California, now living in Massachusetts, with a lot of moves in between. Hats: wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, writer, filmmaker, legislative advocate, rower, candidate, adventurer - and citizen. 

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Marci has a degree in Psychology, is certified in Psychological First Aid, and a certified Mental Health Peer Specialist. She is a trained mediator through The UT School of Law, Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution. When not working for AKA or advocating at the Texas Capitol, she is busy running her vintage small business in Austin and enjoying her family.

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Alice was born in Korea and one of the first generation of transnational, interracial adoptees. Her work has appeared in Urban Mozaik, Flung, Banana Writers, the Los Angeles review of Books, and the Washington Independent Review of Books, which publishes her column, Alice In Wordland. She lives with her family in the Washington, DC area.

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Sara as an Illinois State Representative fought 14 years (1996-2010) to have the adoption law changed in her state granting adoptees the right to request their original birth certificate. Sara is featured in the Jean Strauss film, A Simple Piece of Paper www.vimeo.com/channels/adopteefilmchannel

As an adoptee herself, she advocates on behalf of all members of the constellation for adoption reform. Now as an Illinois State Senator, she continues to serve the citizens of her district from her Northside office in Chicago and from the state capital in Springfield, IL.

Music by Corey Quinn

Sara as an Illinois State Representative fought 14 years (1996-2010) to have the adoption law changed in her state granting adoptees the right to request their original birth certificate. Sara is featured in the Jean Strauss film, A Simple Piece of Paper www.vimeo.com/channels/adopteefilmchannel

As an adoptee herself, she advocates on behalf of all members of the constellation for adoption reform. Now as an Illinois State Senator, she continues to serve the citizens of her district from her Northside office in Chicago and from the state capital in Springfield, IL.

Music by Corey Quinn

Books authored/co-authored by Patricia Martinez Dorner, MA, LPC:

Children of Open Adoption (co-author) https://www.amazon.com/Children-Open-Adoption-Their-Families/dp/0931722780/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1U9ATY5PGXT8J&keywords=Patricia+Dorner&qid=1668773951&sprefix=patricia+dorner%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-1

How To Open An Adoption: a guide for parents and birthparents of minors https://www.amazon.com/How-Open-Adoption-parents-birthparents/dp/0964103583/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1U9ATY5PGXT8J&keywords=Patricia+Dorner&qid=1668774048&sprefix=patricia+dorner%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-2

Talking To your Child About Adoption https://www.amazon.com/Talking-Your-Child-About-Adoption/dp/0966448006/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1U9ATY5PGXT8J&keywords=Patricia+Dorner&qid=1668774048&sprefix=patricia+dorner%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-3 

ADOPCION: hablando con tu hijo        

(Spanish translation)                           

ADOPTION SEARCH: An Ethical Guide For Professionals 

Above books can be obtained directly from Patricia. She can be reached via email; pdorner1@gmail.com

Ridghaus is the co-creator of the 6WAM (Six Word Adoption Memoir). He has spent the last 20 years teaching as a professor in English, Communication, Media, and Law from his graduate degrees in English (MA), Communication (MA), and Jurisprudence (JD).

He recommends for LDAs the Private Facebook Late Discovery Adoptee Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/latediscoveries

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

She hopes that you will find her resources useful and know that in a world where it feels like you have to fit in, you were actually born to stand out. Her website is SydneyParkhurst.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

She is a Chicago born adoptee, has been in reunion with her birth mother and her maternal family for 9 years. Maura had never met another adoptee until she got involved with the film A Simple Piece of Paper by fellow adoptee Jean Strauss in 2011. It was during the filming that she acquired her original birth certificate and discovered her origins. Maura is a marketing professional within the non-profit arena and resides in Chicago, IL. She remains connected to the adoption community but is always seeking opportunities to be more involved. She can be reached via email at mbaduffy@gmail.com

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Astrid has a degree in Sociology with an emphasis in adoption.

"Adoption Mosaic's 'We the Experts' series brings adult adoptees and their loved ones together to share personal experiences with the intention to discuss best practices and tangible tools, to connect among peers and to engage in learning with other adoptees."

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Alicia is a wife, mother of 5 and a grandmother. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and Business.

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Lynn will be a workshop speaker and a part of the panel entitled "Adoptee Voices Matter-Options for Writing Your Truth" at the NAAP (National Association of Adoptees and Parents) in person conference in Indianapolis, IN September 10-11, 2021.

Lynn has been married to her husband Mark for 30 years and is mom to an adult son and a teen daughter.

Nancy is a certified professional coach. She can be reached via email nancy@nancymccaughey.com and her website is nancymccaughey.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

https://www.amazon.com/Shoebox-Effect-Transforming-Fortitude-Purpose/dp/1949856178/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2M0LY22K5VIOH&keywords=the+shoebox+effect&qid=1668735994&sprefix=the+shoebox+effect%2Caps%2C543&sr=8-1

National Association of Adoptees and Parents (NAAP) is a 501c3 educational organization that is dedicated to enhancing the lives of adoptees by unifying and elevating the voice of all adoptees regardless of where they are in their adoption journey.

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Melisha Mitchell can be reached via email ILtreesurgeon@aol.com

Music by Corey Quinn

Michelle Gilmore is an artist and can be reached at michelle.gilmore.DrawForYou

Music by Corey Quinn

Lisa K Bouler was born and adopted in Chicago. From an early age her adoptive parents shared her adoption story and encouraged her to search for her biological family. With their support, she eventually found out she was not only a big sister to her parent’s biological child, but a big sister to her own four biological siblings. Lisa is the mother of two phenomenal young adults aged 19 and 22. She has been in education for 31 years. In her spare time, she runs marathons, crochets, and tends to her vegetable gardens. 

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Music by Corey Quinn

Co-editing by Charles Yingling at The Blueroom Studios, Nashville, TN

Music by Corey Quinn

David is on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100062909066865

Co-editing by Charles Yingling at The Blueroom Studios, Nashville, TN

Music by Corey Quinn

Co-editing by Charles Yingling at The Blueroom Studios, Nashville, TN

Music by Corey Quinn