Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories

Latest Episodes:

Angela: An Early Reunion Led to Belonging Aug 06, 2024

Show notes

Angela was born in Nebraska in 1979 and adopted at 3 days old. She grew up in a family that came with many complexities and issues, and she struggled to feel content with not knowing and being with her first family. At 16, she was able to reunite with her birth mother and half-siblings in person and has been in reunion ever since. Throughout the years, she's met more of her first family and has gone through the many challenges of reunion and the search for her birth father. Angela now resides in Chicago, where her first family originated, and has two grown children. She hopes to help others understand that even in the best situations, adoption is difficult and we need to continue working towards adoptees having rights and access to their records and eliminate the secrecy.
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 18:04
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri
Eventbrite: LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & A PHOTO JOURNEY with Jeff Forney of The Innocent People Project
You have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off
your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code
VIPMAKINGOFME20
at checkout - You can claim it at: https://magicmind.com/vipmakingofme
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom /ADOPTEE CAFE community. Our next Zoom is on 9/14 at 1 pm ET.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Magali: A Stranger in Two Countries Jul 30, 2024

Show notes

Magali was born in Sri Lanka in 1992 and adopted by French parents when she was 2 months old. She grew up in a small town in France, a mostly white area, and struggled to identify with both the French and Sri Lankan cultures. She found her birth family during her first visit to Sri Lanka when she was 16 years old. She has 4 older siblings that stay in the family.

The language was a real barrier and she had to communicate with the help of a guide. Because learning Sinhalese at that time was too challenging, she decided to learn English to ensure she could communicate with most of the world. To do so she moved to London, England when she was 18 and then moved to Toronto, Canada for 6.5 years where she met her husband.

Magali stayed in touch with her birth family for a few years but had to cut ties because they kept asking her for money. She dedicated her time to teaching French to English speakers because she wanted to help people struggling to learn a second language. Magali is using self-development tools to heal and is assisting other adoptees to find peace with their stories. She wants to bring awareness and make adoptees' lives easier and lighter.

To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 11:15
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri
Eventbrite: LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & A PHOTO JOURNEY with Jeff Forney of The Innocent People Project
You have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off
your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code
VIPMAKINGOFME20
at checkout - You can claim it at: https://magicmind.com/vipmakingofme
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom adoptee community. Our next Zoom is on 8/3 at 1 pm ET.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jeff: The Problem and the Solution Jul 23, 2024

Show notes

Jeff is an adoptee born in 1964 in Salt Lake City Utah. He is the middle of 4 children (an older sister and younger twins, a boy and a girl) who were also adopted. He grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and always knew that he was adopted. He has been able to experience living in the Middle East and working in a variety of cultures in countries throughout the Middle East as well as Mexico and the United States.
Jeff is the founder of a non-profit organization that has helped homeless and underserved youth in San Diego and Tijuana to get off the streets and become positive contributors to changing their communities since 2005.
Jeff currently lives in San Diego, CA, and has recently become aware of the primal wound and the life-long effects of being adopted. He is seeing the impact of adoption on various other life events while also striving to heal and help as many as possible to manage and overcome the challenges that life brings to so many who have suffered various types of trauma.
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 16:54
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri
Eventbrite: LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & A PHOTO JOURNEY with Jeff Forney of The Innocent People Project
You have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off
your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code
VIPMAKINGOFME20
at checkout - You can claim it at: https://magicmind.com/vipmakingofme
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Dr. Liz Debetta : Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom adoptee community. Our next Zoom is on 8/3 at 1 pm ET.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Julie: Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity Jul 16, 2024

Show notes

Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. In her books, essays, and blogs, she explores the topics of finding out who you are, and 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, Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood releases in February 2025.

https://www.juliemcgueauthor.com
Award-winning author of Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
NEW BOOK - Available Nov 1, 2023, Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship -FB @juliemcguewrites -IG @julieryanmcgue
Twitter @juliermcgue
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 16:07
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri
Eventbrite: LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & A PHOTO JOURNEY with Jeff Forney of The Innocent People Project
You have a limited offer you can use now, that gets you up to 48% off
your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code
VIPMAKINGOFME20
at checkout - You can claim it at: https://magicmind.com/vipmakingofme

RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom adoptee community. Our next Zoom is on 8/3 at 1 pm ET.
Our Patrons: Laura, Barbara, Ramona, Linda, Daphne, Denise, Michelle, Emily, Linda, John, Eric, Beth, Ron, Tony, Kristi, Kristen, Jane, Kelley, Sandra, The Harpy, Kristan, Lisa, Michelle, Jesper, Julie, Rivi, Robert, Colleen, Janet, Robin, Lynn, Mikki, Sharon, Carol, Elizabeth, Diane, Ann, Darra, A.M., Kelly, Lyn, Lynn Wood, Jeff, Ellen, Gayle Whitlock, Dave, Kim, Simone, Liesl, Kelly, Sherry, Barbara, Sandra, Darla, Lisa, Karen, Sally, Barbara, April, Jenny, Sally, Mindy and M

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Stephen: A Story of Adoption and Destiny Jul 09, 2024

Show notes

Stephen Rowley, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist practicing on Bainbridge Island,
Washington. He is an adoptee and the father of an adopted son. Born in 1949 to an
unwed mother, he was adopted at six months and enjoyed the benefits of growing up in a loving and affluent home. At age 13 he became deeply curious about his parentage. Not until college did he have the means to begin a lifelong quest to find his birth mother and his true identity. After years of investigation, he finally found his birth mother living in tragic circumstances. However, their poignant reunion vastly exceeded their expectations of finding each other when their souls finally reunited. As told through his memoir, Rowley traces the inner life of an adoptee, not simply the external narrative of his lifelong search.
The Lost Coin: A Memoir of Adoption and Destiny (Chiron Publications, Sept. 2023). Learn more at stephenrowley108.com/memoir/
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 15:34

The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri
Eventbrite: LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & A PHOTO JOURNEY with Jeff Forney of The Innocent People Project
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom adoptee community. Our next Zoom is on 8/3 at 1 pm ET.
Our Patrons: Laura, Barbara, Ramona, Linda, Daphne, Denise, Michelle, Emily, Linda, John, Eric, Beth, Ron, Tony, Kristi, Kristen, Jane, Kelley, Sandra, The Harpy, Kristan, Lisa, Michelle, Jesper, Julie, Rivi, Robert, Colleen, Janet, Robin, Lynn, Mikki, Sharon, Carol, Elizabeth, Diane, Ann, Darra, A.M., Kelly, Lyn, Lynn Wood, Jeff, Ellen, Gayle Whitlock, Dave, Kim, Simone, Liesl, Kelly, Sherry, Barbara, Sandra, Darla, Lisa, Karen, Sally, Barbara, Jenny, Sally & Mindy.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Carolyn: Healing through Poetry Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

Carolyn Hill-Bjerke is an adoptee born in 1967, during the Baby Scoop Era.
She was born to 20-year-old students at the University of Connecticut.
Carolyn’s biological mother was put into a maternity home. Her father
moved to New York City and became a lawyer. He worked in the
entertainment business.
Carolyn was in foster care for the first five months of her life as her
biological mother resisted relinquishment until she no longer could.
Carolyn grew up in the Washington, DC area as the daughter of a nuclear
engineer and a doctor. She was an artist and writer who was
misunderstood in her early life.
Carolyn attended Syracuse University and moved to New York City in 1989. Carolyn worked as a journalist before launching her career in advertising and film production. Carolyn is still a production executive, consultant, and agent – www.carolynreps.com Carolyn also earned her MFA in Poetry from Columbia University in 2003. Upon meeting her biological father in 2011, Carolyn learned her family name – Pennella – means “of the pen” in Italian signifying a lineage in
writing.
Carolyn met her husband, the artist Wayne Bjerke, in New York City. They
live in Connecticut near where she was born. Carolyn and Wayne have
three children. The oldest, Paige Bjerke, now attends the University of
Connecticut.
Carolyn's Substack - https://carolynhill.substack.com
Carolyn's Book - https://www.amazon.com/Things-Dont-Want-Talk-About-ebook/dp/B01AIGC3R8

To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 11:28

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

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Trishina: Digging through the Layers of International Adoption Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

Trishina was born in 1991 in Sevastopol, Ukraine, and was adopted at 18 months old. She was always curious about her biological family, searching on and off. Still, it wasn’t until she joined a Russian social media app called Vkontakte, that she could find some answers. Trishina is a nurse and military wife currently living in Cleveland, Ohio.
Vk Link
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 2:12

In Season 8, we will be reading The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler starting July 2nd
See you in Kansas City? LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & PHOTO EVENT with JEFF FORNEY of THE INNOCENT PEOPLE PROJECT - September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri.
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory
If you want to support our show, visit our Patreon Page.

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom adoptee community. Our next Zoom is on 7/13 at 1 pm ET.
Our Patrons: Laura, Barbara, Ramona, Linda, Daphne, Denise, Michelle, Emily, Linda, John, Eric, Beth, Ron, Tony, Kristi, Kristen, Jane, Kelley, Sandra, The Harpy, Kristan, Lisa, Michelle, Jesper, Julie, Rivi, Robert, Colleen, Janet, Robin, Lynn, Mikki, Sharon, Carol, Elizabeth, Diane, Ann, Darra, A.M., Kelly, Lyn, Lynn Wood, Jeff, Karla, Ellen, Gayle Whitlock, Dave, Kim, Simone, Liesl, Kelly, Sherry, Barbara, Sandra, Darla, Lisa, Karen Sally and Barbara.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Gretchen: Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood Jun 18, 2024

Show notes

Season 7 Finale
Gretchen Sisson, PhD is a qualitative sociologist who studies abortion and adoption in the United States, based at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, a ten-year examination of adoption relinquishment during the years of Roe.
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 11:36

Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, by Gretchen Sisson
LIVE RECORDED PODCAST with Adoption: The Making of Me (ATMOM) & PHOTO EVENT with JEFF FORNEY of THE INNOCENT PEOPLE PROJECT - September 7th in Kansas City, Missouri.
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory
If you want to support our show, visit our Patreon Page.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Steve: An Adoptee Talks Birth Records Jun 11, 2024

Show notes

Steve Inskeep is an adoptee and adoptive parent born in 1968, the peak year for adoptions in America during the Baby Scoop Era.

He is a host of NPR's Morning Edition, as well as NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

Known for interviews with presidents and Congressional leaders, Steve has a passion for stories of the less famous: Pennsylvania truck drivers, Kentucky coal miners, U.S.-Mexico border detainees, Yemeni refugees, California firefighters, and American soldiers.

And now adoptees can be added to that list. Recently, he published an in-depth article in The Atlantic about America’s long history of secret adoption:
NO ONE’S CHILDREN - America's long history of secret adoption

A native of Carmel, Indiana, Inskeep is a graduate of Morehead State University in Kentucky and resides in Washington, DC.

To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 15:51

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly Zoom adoptee community. Our next Zoom is 7/13 at 1pm ET.
Our Patrons: Laura, Barbara, Ramona, Linda, Daphne, Denise, Michelle, Emily, Linda, John, Eric, Beth, Ron, Tony, Kristi, Kristen, Jane, Kelley, Sandra, The Harpy, Kristan, Lisa, Michelle, Jesper, Julie, Rivi, Robert, Colleen, Janet, Robin, Lynn, Mikki, Sharon, Carol, Elizabeth, Diane, Ann, Darra, A.M., Kelly, Lyn, Lynn Wood, Jeff, Karla, Ellen, Gayle Whitlock, Dave, Kim, Simone, Liesl, Kelly, Sherry, Barbara, Sandra, Darla, Lisa and Karen.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Christina: The Ups and Downs of Reunion Jun 04, 2024

Show notes

Christina Thanstrom is a baby Scoop-era adoptee born in Los Angeles in 1966. A loving couple adopted her in 1967 through LA County and she had a mostly idyllic childhood with a younger brother (also adopted) in the San Fernando Valley.
Christina was reunited with her birth mother, Arleen, an R.N., at age 19 while in college (the same age Arleen had given birth to Christina). Christina learned that when
Arleen’s parents discovered her pregnancy, they threw her high school graduation photo against the wall and called her a “whore.” She then went to a “home for
unwed mothers” where she gave birth to Christina.
Reunion was fraught with unspoken emotions and unaddressed traumas on both sides. Sadly, Arleen died at 52. 23&Me introduced Christina to her bio-father’s family, who have opened their arms and hearts to her.
Christina and her hubby David are proud parents of adult children, Sophia and Harrison. Christina is a devoted rescue pup mom and fierce animal rescue advocate. She hopes that we overcome and eliminate the shame and the secrecy surrounding adoption on all sides of the triangle.
To skip ahead to the interview go to timestamp: 18:37

Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood, by Gretchen Sisson
RESOURCES for Adoptees
S12F Helping Adoptees
Gregory Luce and Adoptees Rights Law
Joe Soll & other adoptee resources
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Reckoning with the Primal Wound Documentary
Hiraeth Hope & Healing
Moses Farrow
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
NAMI Hotline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email them at info@nami.org
Adoptee Therapist Directory
If you want to support our show, visit our Patreon Page.

Support the show

To support the show - Patreon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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