Lindy Saunders was born in Manilla in the Philippines and was adopted in 1976 by Australian parents who brought her home to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Lindy was told shifting stories about her origins as many adopted people, particularly inter country adoptees often are, but she felt it was disrespectful to dig too hard for the truth. It wasn’t until her adoptive father passed away three years ago that her curiosity outgrew those feelings, and she began to search for her biological fa...
Sep 05, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Helen Weder was born in Brisbane in 1955 and adopted just six days later. She has since met her mother and more recently her father via an AncestryDNA test. In this episode, Helen shares her experience and how writing a memoir is helping her to process it. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland ( www.jigsawqueensland.com ) Conne...
Aug 24, 2023•49 min
Peter Capomolla Moore is a family genealogist who stumbled across his adoption via a DNA test at the age of 59. The father of 5, grandfather of many and foster carer is also a committed advocate for adopted people through his work as President of Adoptee Rights Australia. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland ( www.jigsawqueens...
Jul 01, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Today’s guest is a Queensland mother who lost a daughter, and a son to adoption. Di Riddell is also a rape and domestic violence survivor, who has dedicated her life to helping others find their voice and is the author of three books, Beyond Abuse , Speak Out and Knowing You . This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland ( www.jigsawq...
Jun 13, 2023•38 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Today’s guest is one of those extraordinary humans who travels off the beaten path, and lives a life filled with adventure. Heather Kinang is a Himalayan climber, trekker, yoga teacher, espresso lover and late discovery adoptee. In this episode, Heather shares her experience as a late discoverer and her adventurous life. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow -...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Today’s guest is a Canadian born adoptee who has lived in Australia for more than two decades. I first had the pleasure of meeting Angela Irving at a workshop I facilitated in Perth for Jigsaw WA back in 2018 and her story has changed so much since then. Today she will share how the internet and DNA have helped her solve an international mystery and connect her with her maternal and paternal families...during a pandemic. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For...
May 16, 2023•42 min
Today's guest is an adoptee from Newcastle, Australia who says the internet, social media and DNA has been a game changer in her search for her biological family and connection. Louise Gleeson utilised all three during her search and is using them again now to help others. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland ( www.jigsawqueen...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 4Ep. 4
This year we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the federal apology for past forced adoption policies and practices. The apology was a direct result of tireless advocacy by those affected, which led to a senate inquiry and resulting report. Today's guest has been a powerful ally of those affected by forced adoption and was an integral part in how the apology came about. Claire Moore was elected to the Australian Senate for Queensland in 2001 and retired at the expiration of her final term in 2...
Apr 18, 2023•53 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Joining us in this episode of Adopt Perspective is a Queensland mother who lost a daughter to adoption in 1976. Kathryn Rendell was also a member of the National Council for Single Mothers and Their Children (now Single Mother Families Australia Inc.) and was a member of the national Forced Adoptions Apology Reference Group and the Forced Adoptions Implementation Working Group – formed in 2013 to provide key advice to government on services and projects to improve support for people who have bee...
Apr 04, 2023•49 min•Season 4Ep. 2
On 21st March 2013, the Australian Government delivered a formal apology to people affected by past forced adoption policies and practices. The apology was delivered by then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard in the Great Hall at Parliament House. The apology acknowledged the experiences of those affected, which created a lifelong legacy of pain and suffering. Today is the 10th anniversary of the apology and states and territories around Australia are commemorating with events. We know that not every...
Mar 20, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In the final episode of Season 3, Jigsaw Qld's FASS CEO Dr Trevor Jordan joins Jo to discuss a topic you’ve likely heard a bit about in recent months…redress. With an ageing cohort, the clock is really ticking on this issue. With only weeks remaining until the Queensland apology 10th anniversary event, we explore a number of issues, including Jigsaw Qld's recent message to the Minister, the Victorian Govt's redress announcement and how things might be explored and take shape as the Queensland go...
Oct 26, 2022•22 min
Today’s guest is Sarah Dingle, a dual Walkley Award-winning investigative reporter and presenter with the ABC, working across radio and TV current affairs, news and documentary. Her work has won the UN’s Media Peace Prize and the Voiceless Media Prize and her radio documentaries have been recognised by the Australian Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the National Press Club. Sarah is the author of the incredible book we’re talking about today, Brave New Humans: The Dirty Reality...
Oct 11, 2022•49 min•Season 3Ep. 17
Darryl Nelson first shared his personal experience of discharging his adoption in Queensland with us in our Jigsaw Queensland newsletter, Bits & Pieces Summer 2020 edition. Darryl was born in Brisbane in 1964 during the closed and forced adoption eras. He first discovered he was adopted when he was 14 years old, and uncovered further information about his adoption later, when records were unsealed. Darryl’s discharge was successful in 2020, however, it wasn’t an easy road to get there. Worki...
Sep 28, 2022•47 min
In 2021, a series of morning teas aimed at highlighting adoptee mental health were held during Qld Mental Health Week, under the banner of AdopTEA. All up, four peer-supported gatherings of adopted people were registered across Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and regional Queensland. This year, the AdopTEA events will again take place again during Qld Mental Health Week running from 8 – 16th October. The AdopTEA events increase awareness and understanding of the impacts of adoption on adopted people an...
Sep 13, 2022•21 min
There was barely a dry eye on the Qld GOMA balcony when Allan Hill and his son, Chris shared the emotional story of their reunion at this year's national apology anniversary event. As we approach Father's Day, Allan again shares his story with our listeners; of losing a son to forced adoption in the early 1970s, their reunion and the impact this loss had on his life. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com...
Aug 31, 2022•51 min
Today's guest is an adoptee born at Crown Street Women's Hospital in Sydney in 1953. Jill Rodger is a tenacious amateur detective who managed to track down her mother in 1984, years before New South Wales legislation was amended to allow access to identifying information and even before the common use of the internet and social media. More recently, Jill has managed to track down her paternal family through a commercial DNA test and has had a beautiful outcome. Jill joined us from Ballarat in Vi...
Aug 16, 2022•55 min•Season 3Ep. 14
For some adopted people the search for their biological parents ends at a gravestone. This abrupt ending can create an overwhelming sense of grief and sadness made worse by a lack of answers and a profound sense of guilt for a search left too long. Sometimes our search leads us not to a gravestone, but to complex family dynamics or severed family relationships that can make it challenging to learn about and connect with our biological roots. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations su...
Aug 02, 2022•46 min•Season 3Ep. 14
Many adopted people report that their adoption experience has impacted their parenting. Today's guest is a social worker and academic at the University of Melbourne who has researched the mothering experience of adopted women - an area she hopes to continue to explore in the future. Prior to becoming an academic, Dr Jenny Conrick had thirty years practice experience as a social work clinician, manager and educator in the non-government and health sectors, providing services across the life cycle...
Jul 19, 2022•57 min
Natalie Lewis is an Aboriginal and South Sea Islander woman who was adopted in Queensland in 1974. Her adoptive parents were originally from Germany and India. Because Natalie was adopted in Queensland in 1974, she falls outside the Australian states currently offering redress to the Stolen Generations and the criteria for states that do offer redress. This leaves Natalie in somewhat of a no-man’s land as she seeks recognition of the loss that her adoption caused to her culture, community and fa...
Jul 05, 2022•53 min•Season 3Ep. 12
Today’s guest is an adoptee born in the late sixties under the closed adoption system and a cloud of secrecy. Tracy Shand searched for and reunited with her mother and sister at the age of twenty-four, finding the relationships complex to maintain over time. At the age of forty-five she did a commercial DNA test to find her father and 3 years later found success. Tracy is sharing her personal story with us today and how her experiences have led her to research adoption as part of her Psychology ...
Jun 21, 2022•45 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Benjamin Kelleher was adopted from Brazil in the city of Belo Horizonte and was brought to Australia in 1989 at the age of 13 months. He was one of 5000 children in the orphanage at the time of his adoption. Benjamin grew up on the sunny beaches of the Gold Coast in Queensland and recently shared his experience of intercountry adoption in a series of educational video resources produced by InterCountry Adoptee Voices in partnership with Relationship Matters. In this episode, Benjamin shares more...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Even if you're not quite sure what it is, chances are you've heard of Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR). EMDR is a form of psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro in the 1980s that was originally designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many people affected by adoption have attributed the therapy with helping them. While there is no one size fits all approach when it comes to seeking help, we will be explori...
May 24, 2022•51 min
Evelyn Robinson is a mother who was separated from her first child through adoption in Scotland in 1970. She later emigrated to Bermuda and then South Australia in 1982, where she still resides. Evelyn has a wealth of knowledge and experience in relation to the long-term outcomes of adoption separation and has experienced post-adoption services from every perspective - as a client, a volunteer and as a professional counsellor. She holds undergraduate and post-grad qualifications in social work a...
May 10, 2022•45 min
Evelyn Robinson is a mother who was separated from her first child through adoption in Scotland in 1970. She later emigrated to Bermuda and then South Australia in 1982, where she still resides. Evelyn has a wealth of knowledge and experience in relation to the long-term outcomes of adoption separation and has experienced post-adoption services from every perspective - as a client, a volunteer and as a professional counsellor. She holds undergraduate and post-grad qualifications in social work a...
Apr 26, 2022•50 min
There is no "one size fits all" approach when it comes to finding a therapy that is right for you. Throughout this and coming seasons we'll be exploring a number of therapeutic options in the hope that amongst them you might find an option that you'd like to investigate further. First up we'll be discussing Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TSY) with Edwina Kempe, an accredited mental health social worker and trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator and trainer. TSY provides an opportunity to safely connect to yo...
Apr 12, 2022•42 min
The Queensland Parliament's Legal Affairs and Safety Committee have recently invited submissions for its inquiry into matters relating to donor conception information with a deadline of 29 April, 2022. It is important the committee receive as many submission as possible from people with lived experience of donor conception. With this in mind, Jo talks to Kate Drysdale, who is donor conceived and Kath Gelber, the mother of a donor conceived child about their experiences, the inquiry and where don...
Mar 29, 2022•46 min
In the last episode we spoke to Joyce about her story of losing a daughter to adoption and later reuniting with her. In this episode, we speak with Joyce's daughter, Kylie about how adoption has impacted her life and what her reunion with her mother has brought to her life. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes
Mar 15, 2022•36 min
Joyce is a mother who lost a daughter to adoption in Rockhampton (Qld) in 1970. In this episode, Joyce shares her story with Jo, including her reunion with her daughter, Kylie in 1990. In the next episode Kylie shares her powerful story of how adoption has impacted her life. This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes
Mar 01, 2022•39 min
In the first two episodes of Season Three, we speak to psychotherapist, author and lecturer, Nancy Verrier about her research into adoption and her books, 'The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child' (1993) and 'Coming Home to Self: The Adopted Child Grows Up' (2003). Nancy's first book turned the fairytale narrative of adoption on its head. She wasn't the first academic to explore the effects of early infant separation from their mother and subsequent adoption, however, she communicated ...
Feb 15, 2022•28 min
In the first two episodes of Season Three, we speak to psychotherapist, author and lecturer, Nancy Verrier about her research into adoption and her books, 'The Primal Wound: Understanding the Adopted Child' (1993) and 'Coming Home to Self: The Adopted Child Grows Up' (2003). Nancy's first book turned the fairytale narrative of adoption on its head. She wasn't the first academic to explore the effects of early infant separation from their mother and subsequent adoption, however, she communicated ...
Feb 01, 2022•45 min
