In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines , Zaira is joined by Ashley Albert—organizer, survivor, and founder of Stolen Children’s Month. Ashley shares her journey from foster care and incarceration to becoming the first parent in Washington state to legally enforce and modify an open adoption agreement. Together, they speak truth to power about the family policing system, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), and the necessity of abolition. This conversation is about legacy, resistance, a...
Jun 27, 2025•50 min
In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines , Zaira sits down with her editor and friend J Way to reflect on their experience attending the Black Mothers March in Washington, D.C. From the powerful teach in and the emotional impact of firsthand stories to the joyful moments of community and connection, they unpack what it means to organize, to protest, and to be witnessed. Together, they talk about the dystopian reality we’re living in, the role of media in shaping narratives around adoption and ...
Jun 13, 2025•43 min
In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines , Zaira sits down with Kat Shahinian-Buffa to explore the layers of secrecy, grief, and reclamation embedded in kinship adoption. From being adopted the day she was born to uncovering that her sister is also her cousin through a DNA test, Kat walks us through her journey of survival, family deception, and international discovery. Together, they dig into the ways adoption alters identity, why even kinship adoption can be deeply harmful, and what it means...
May 23, 2025•53 min
In this powerful episode, attorney and pro-Black adoptee Aretha Frazier shares her story of being adopted by her aunt in a kinship placement that was far from simple. From navigating family loyalty and control to confronting abuse and the myth of gratitude, Aretha opens up about what it really meant to grow up in a household where blood ties didn’t guarantee safety or care. She and Zaira dive deep into the complexities of kinship adoption, family dynamics, and what it means to center adoptees—es...
May 09, 2025•51 min
In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines , Zaira is joined by her editor, cinephile, and dear friend J Way. Together, they dive into how adoption narratives are portrayed in film and television, from tropes like the “grateful orphan” to more realistic depictions of systemic harm. J Way shares their experience as a transracial adoptee, the cultural erasure they endured, and the healing power of chosen family, storytelling, and visual media. This powerful conversation unpacks the surveillance, s...
Apr 25, 2025•58 min
In this solo episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines , Zaira dives deep into the power and necessity of mutual aid. Drawing from personal reflection, historical examples like the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords, and global efforts from Sudan to Florida, this episode highlights how mutual aid has always been about survival. Zaira explores how mutual aid rejects systems of exploitation and centers community care as a form of resistance—especially for marginalized communities continuously neglec...
Apr 11, 2025•21 min
Adoptee Storytelling & Film Advocacy In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira sits down with Alexandra, a British and American domestic transracial adoptee who grew up in her birth country of Hong Kong. Alexandra is the festival director of the Adoptee Film Fest , a global in-person and online film festival amplifying adoptee-centered films by adoptee filmmakers. They discuss her journey of navigating identity, community, and storytelling, and how the Adoptee Film Fest came to be. A...
Mar 28, 2025•1 hr
Root Work and Resilience: The Fight for Black Families In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines , Zaira sits down with Tamara and Tracey Robertson, sisters, healers, and advocates serving as Healers in Residence with Movement for Family Power. Together, they discuss their journey of resisting the harms of the family policing system, while centering Black birth traditions, ancestral wisdom, and community healing. From childhood foundations of faith and service to their powerful doula work, this...
Mar 21, 2025•47 min
In this episode, we explore the complexities of adoption, privilege, and the narratives that shape our understanding of family. Through personal stories and critical reflections, we unpack the ways in which adoption is often framed as an unquestionable good while overlooking the systemic issues at play. We discuss the intersection of race, class, and power in adoption, the impact on adoptees, and the importance of centering their voices. This conversation challenges dominant narratives and invit...
Feb 28, 2025•51 min•Season 4Ep. 3
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Feb 14, 2025•50 min•Season 4Ep. 2
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Jan 24, 2025•19 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Send us a text Keshia The child welfare system is waging war on Black families, and Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey is on the front lines. In this episode, she shares her journey from foster child to family defender, exposing the racist roots of CPS and the urgent need for change. Keisha breaks down her tactics for protecting families during CPS investigations, from refusing home entry to shutting down fishing expeditions. Her success rates are fantastic: 95.8% of parental rights protected and 93.7% of fa...
Jul 12, 2024•46 min
Send us a text Benjamin Words matter. Especially when it comes to adoption. Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sanchez isn't just "adopted" - they were separated from their first family for 28 years. In this episode, we unpack how the language we use shapes our understanding of adoption. Benjamin shares their journey of rejecting industry terminology and embracing more accurate descriptions of their experience. We discuss how this shift in language opens up new possibilities for solidarity and political a...
Jun 28, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Send us a text Henry What happens when a Black child is adopted into a white Mormon family? The Mormon church silenced Henry's identity as a Black transracial adoptee, but he's done being quiet. From "colorblind" racism to the weight of forced gratitude, he exposes the ugly truth behind his adoption. We explore the impact of media representation, the importance of acknowledging adoptee anger, and why abolishing the current system might be the only way forward. Henry shares his journey of finding...
Jun 14, 2024•38 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Send us a text Fai Knudson Fai Knudson grew up in a white, conservative town, always feeling different. As a biracial, transracial adoptee, Faye faced racism and isolation. Leaving their hometown ignited a journey of self-discovery, leading to advocacy and therapy focused on adoptee mental health. In this episode, Fai shares their powerful story, the challenges of being a transracial adoptee, and how they now help others navigate similar paths. What we discussed (00:18) Who is Fai Knudson? (04:0...
May 24, 2024•54 min•Season 3Ep. 9
Send us a text 1 Year of No Contact It's been 365 days since I cut ties with my adopters to protect myself. A year of healing, self-discovery, and finding my voice. In this episode, I share my no contact journey, the reasons behind my decision, the process of healing, and the freedom I’ve found. Hear my story of setting boundaries, seeking safety, and reclaiming my identity. What we discussed (00:24) 1 year of no contact (01:50) “but they’re your parents” OR Expectation to be grateful (04:17) Ho...
May 10, 2024•46 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Send us a text Amanda Wallace Amanda Wallace helps families powerfully stop Child Protective Services from stealing their children. In this episode she talk about how you can do it too, how her organization reunited 20+ families, and why we should abolish the belief that the CPS system should even exist. Listen and let’s stop CPS. What we discussed (00:22) Who is Amanda Wallace? (01:25) Why she wants to stop CPS - Child Protective Services (05:16) Why are you in my house?! (06:32) Repealing the ...
Apr 26, 2024•36 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Send us a text Adoption is Not A Part Of God’s Plan People who adopt say it’s God’s plan for them to adopt. But, they almost never say that God’s plan is for them NOT to have children. This is just one of the many ways people use religion to justify human trafficking. I found out, through an archived article, that I was trafficked by the Church through the One Church, One Child movement which operates in 32 states. What we discussed (00:22) Is adoption God’s plan? (04:23) Forcing adoptees to go ...
Apr 12, 2024•41 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Send us a text Mila's Truth: Navigating Adoption, Liberation, and Community The Church does an excellent job of silencing you if you oppose them. They’d even hire a marketing company to rebrand adoption so that their business as adoption middlemen can continue to thrive. But, it’s not just the Church. The dominant culture is to silence anyone who speaks up against adoption. To make them feel shame. To gaslight them. That was Mila Konomos’ experience once she realized how adoption has wounded her...
Mar 22, 2024•58 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Send us a text My Journey To Abolition Every adult in my childhood has failed me, none of them did what they’re supposed to. Every part of the system failed me…it did exactly what it’s supposed to. The system kills children and breaks families, it must be abolished. In this episode, I share how I gradually evolved towards this deep belief starting from a school trip to juvie when I was just 10. I talk about my encounters with the family policing system growing up and how it failed me. My story i...
Mar 08, 2024•34 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Send us a text Josh Lamers Adoption is trauma. How do we help surviving children heal the wounds they’ve sustained from the child welfare system? Josh Lamers, a transracial adoptee, is public enemy #1 for child welfare agencies in Canada. He joins the show to discuss what adoption and child welfare are like in Canada; and how his organization, Collective of Child Welfare Survivors, advocates for child welfare survivors though addressing harm reduction, counseling, unpacking racial displacement, ...
Feb 23, 2024•50 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Send us a text Adoptees & Community Before I found other adoptees online I was lost. I wanted to know where I came from, and I wanted to know others like me. Most adoption communities center adoptive parents and foster parents. We are left out of the picture. This doesn’t make sense. This episode is a collection of my thoughts on this matter. “One of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance; places where we know we are not alone.” - Bell Hooks What we...
Feb 09, 2024•24 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Send us a text Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System It was when Alan arrived at a home with the cops to remove a child and heard his mother say “Charles, run, they're coming to take you and they're going to sell you to the white people” that he realized how the trauma of slavery cannot be disentangled from the trauma of family separation. It was in this moment that he realized the harm he’s done to many families and decided to take a different path. Today, Alan Dett...
Jan 25, 2024•43 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Send us a text Unveiling Roots: The Journey of Gregory D. Luce, Attorney and Advocate for Adoptee Rights Us adoptees have to pay thousands of dollars and jump through hoops to unseal our records. This robs us of autonomy, dignity, and equality. Gregory D. Luce is an attorney who helps adoptees all across the US go through this hurdle. In this episode we discuss Greg’s personal adoption journey that made him so passionate about adoptee rights. We also discuss the important work that he does aroun...
Nov 10, 2023•42 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Send us a text Torn Apart: How the Child Welfare System Destroys Black Families--and How Abolition Can Build a Safer World More than anyone else, black women get their children kidnapped by the state, by the child “welfare system”. This episode is about the whys and hows of abolishing a system built to strip families away from their children. Through discussing Torn Apart by Dr. Dorothy Roberts , we examine the history and laws that have led to the birth of armed and violent social workers. We a...
Oct 27, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Send us a text Reuniting with his birth family showed John McCormick, a transracial adoptee, a new world. He physically felt a relaxation he had never felt before, he connected with music and art like never before, and he started to own who he is - confidently - even when others denied his identity. This is the story of how John’s reunion with his bio family was a healing journey that led him to reclaim an identity he was stripped of. What we discussed (00:26) Finding his family because of a coi...
Oct 13, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Send us a text Emily's Journey: Identity, Language Learning, and Adoption Realities After 9 months of living with monks, Emily Harris was adopted from China. She was left behind by her bio family due to the One Child Policy. To process her loss of identity, she has started to learn Chinese with a community of adoptees. In this episode, she talks about how language learning helps, why she wishes she was white, and the hardships of being a Chinese adoptee in the US. What we discussed (00:24) Getti...
Sep 22, 2023•41 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Send us a text Lina Though Lina Vanegas was born to a Colombian family, she was forced to assimilate as a white jewish person. 38 years later, she’s unable to fully connect with her bio family nor speak their language. Forced assimilation is trauma. Her mission is to educate people on adoption trauma. In the episode, she gives a crash course on why adoption is trauma, what to do if you want to adopt in a trauma-informed way, and how to go down the rabbit hole of being adoption-trauma informed. W...
Sep 08, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Send us a text Should you cut off your adoptive parents? Should you “go no contact” with your adoptive parents? “Oh hell no. Not this time. I’m done.” That’s what we felt before cutting off contact with your adoptive parents. Sometimes, the healthies thing we can do is to go no contact with our adoptive parents. Escaping abuse. Escaping racism. Escaping pain. In this episode we share what made us go no contact, discuss what it’s like, and share our personal advice to adoptees considering going n...
Aug 11, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Send us a text Navigating Holidays as an Adoptee: Exploring Complex Emotions & Self Care For adoptees, holidays mean performance. Acting like you care, acting like you’re happy, acting like you’re grateful. And if you don’t perform, then you live in guilt. It’s ironic, because adoption itself is an act. Join us as we explore this and discuss what holidays are like for us adoptees. What we discussed (00:38) Father’s day for adoptees (08:01) Mother’s day for adoptees (11:15) Creating your own ...
Jul 14, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 3
