207 – My Feet Came To The Ground
Shelby, who lives near Seattle, Washington, grew up loved in adoption, but also in a home broken apart By domestic abuse. When the existence of her sisters was revealed, Shelby felt an urge to find her birth family, but she pushed it way down for many years. In reunion, Shelby found her nuclear family still…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode206 – The Phoenix
Rachael, who lives in Dover, Delaware, is a transracial adoptee who endured favoritism toward her brother, microaggressions from her adoptive mother, sexual assault and a physical attack. Rachael went behind her parents’ back to find her birth mother only to have the relationship cut short. Later, Rachel found her birth father behind bars, but so…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode205 – Where The F_ck Is My Mother?
Annie, from Auckland, New Zealand is a late discovery adoptee. When she learned that she was adopted the news made her blood run cold. She said her life split into two people: the people pleasing adoptee who wanted to remain in her family and be accepted and the rebellious adoptee who refused to be what…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode204 – I Don’t Mean That Much To Them
Today you’re going to meet Joe, from New Jersey. Joe is a pseudonym for the true identity of my guest who wanted to remain anonymous. Joe didn’t want for anything in adoption, but he’s never been very open speaking about his adoptee status either. He said his reunions are complex because his paternal side has…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode203 – She Doesn’t Fit Into My Life
Jillian, from New Jersey, found out she was adopted in her early teen years when she asked a question that lots of kids asked their parents about the time when they were born. What she learned was shocking, but Jillian didn’t address her adoption for years until she was over her grief and passed her…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode202 – Healing Tree
Danielle, from Kirkland, Washington, has always felt love and loyalty to her adoptive family. So when the doors of reunion were thrown open and information started flying at her, she fell flat on her face. Danielle lived a reunion experience so many adoptive people have imagined — her birth mother IS a celebrity. While that…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode201 – It’s A Journey To Fit In And Connect
Amy, from outside of Chicago, grew up looking visibly different than her family in a way that didn’t meet societal stereotypes for her family’s beliefs causing her to have to explain her adoption more than she might’ve liked. Curious about her ethnicity and background Amy found links to her birth family through DNA. In her…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode200 – Puzzle Pieces Coming Together To Make Me Whole
Laurie, from Washington state, grew up as an emotional child crying frequently, but no one ever asked what was wrong? They simply wrote her off as being sensitive. When Laurie’s adoptive sister was found by her birth mother, Laurie was shocked at how much they looked alike and it ignited her desire to search. In…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode199 – Patty Gave Me Life Twice
Pippa, from California, Pippa grew up in a wonderful Irish family where she and her brother were supported and loved. When her brother’s birth mother found him, it catalyzed Pippa’s desire to return to Ireland to find her birth family. In reunion Pippa found a birth mother who had suffered a lot of loss in…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode004 – Lucky Online, Connecting When You’re Not Even Looking
Growing up in Leah’s home everyone was comfortable with adoption. Her adopted mom is an adoptee, and her two siblings are adoptees, though they are biologically related to one another. The kids were made to feel special because her parents chose them. But no matter how much love an adoptee receives, sometimes knowing that their origins…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode198 – So Many Twists And Turns
I think of Pam, from outside of Richmond, Virginia, as a late discovery adoptee who learned she was adopted when another child spilled the tea. Speaking with her adoptive mother about the news she was adopted, Pam learned that she was supposed to be placed temporarily, not adopted into another family. Pam’s reunion journey has…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode197 – Why Such A Secret?
Lisa and I connected right before she was going to meet her biological father for the first time and a cousin she’s completely enamored with. Lisa shared that she was adopted as an infant into a failing marriage where divorce soon followed. While other people outwardly noticed how different she looked from her brother, she…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode196 – A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child At A Time
Rob called me from right here in Maryland. Trigger warning. Rob shares his harrowing story of his childhood surviving, mental and sexual abuse under the guardianship of his parents. After their deaths Rob went into foster care and became homeless, navigating life with his belongings shuttled from place to place in trash bags. Rob fought…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode091 – I’m In The Middle Of Two Stories
Ashley had one of those moments where talking to her biological sister felt so familiar it was like texting and and responding to herself. But her birth mother’s pain and uneasiness over Ashley’s desire to learn anything about her birth father was too much for the woman, and their relationship suffered. When she found her birth father…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode075 – I’m Good On My Own, I Know Who I Am
In her adopted family Tameko’s parents just assumed that as an adoptee, she was misbehaving, but when her older adopted brother showed up he actually started framing her for terrible things, trying force her out. Even worse, he abused her. On her search, she read a description of her birthmother that humanized her, but the first pictures Tameko saw…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode084 – There’s A Certain Sense of Completeness
Neal’s search didn’t take off until he was 66 years old! He got a DNA kit for his birthday and within months he was in touch with his paternal family. Ohio’s open original birth certificate help him learn his birth mother’s name, but he couldn’t find a single maternal connection during his search. This episode was just about to be wrapped up…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode074 – I Feel Some Of It Too
Serena told me she had a similar experience to what a lot of adoptees feel, even though she grew up with her birth mother. I’m always talking about empathizing with others, so I wanted to hear her story. Serena told me about her birth on a Native American reservation in Arizona then her mother moving away. She was adopted by…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode066 – I’ve Had A Lot Thrown At Me, But I’m A Happy Human Being
Rick’s birthmother relinquished him into foster care where he was terrorized as a toddler. He was eventually adopted around age 6 but always felt like an outsider. At 16 years old he reunited with his maternal family who informed him his mother was institutionalized for paranoid schizophrenia. Their reunion didn’t go at all how he had…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode029 – A Lifetime of Interveners Saw Me Through
Born in the Panama Canal Zone, Stephanie was adopted by a US military family stationed there in 1961. She was never told she was adopted, but she always knew there was a family secret. When she was 43 years old Stephanie discovered the secret was her own adoption. Because she was born in the Panama Canal…
Press the Play button to Listen to this episode195 – Filling The Hole From Not Knowing
Brittney, from Connecticut, grew up knowing but not closely connected with her biological mother . After a bombshell moment where her mom revealed the truth about her paternal parentage, Brittney felt like she was left to clean up the mess of lies. She was conflicted about searching for her birth father because of her loyalty…
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