Sara J. Streeter (Hea Sook Han) is a transracially adopted Korean-American, writer, and biological mother. Discover more of her work at her website sarajstreeter.com . Adopted daughter. Biological daughter. Youngest of six Korean sisters. Only half sister to three American sisters. 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 an...
Nov 14, 2023•38 min
Susan Ito began reading at the age of three, and writing stories at the age six. She co-edited the literary anthology A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption . Her work has appeared in The Writer, Growing Up Asian American, Choice, Hip Mama, Literary Mama, Catapult, Hyphen,The Bellevue Literary Review , and elsewhere. She is a MacDowell colony Fellow, and has also been awarded residencies at The Mesa Refuge, Hedgebrook and the Blue Mountain Center. She has performed her solo sho...
Nov 07, 2023•49 min
Lori Holden , a veteran in the adoption space, writes at LavenderLuz.com and hosts the podcast Adoption: The Long View . She’s the author of The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption (recommended by People magazine, of all things!), which is featured on adoption agency required-reading lists across the country. She has keynoted and presented at adoption conferences around the US and Canada, and she coaches adoptive parents on embodying the BothAnd approach in their parenting of adoptees. Her new boo...
Oct 31, 2023•42 min
This episode is dedicated in loving memory to Thais America Guirigay Aparicio de Sanguinetti. Thais made her earthly transition after this recording on Friday October 6, 2023. 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, l...
Oct 24, 2023•51 min
Kristin Jones is a mental health therapist with a private practice in Utah. Her personal experience as a domestic adoptee has given her valuable insight into the complexities of identity, self-discovery, and carrying the wounds of deep trauma. Her passion lies in facilitating change and growth, empowering individuals to overcome their obstacles and live fulfilling lives. Kristin is an avid reader who enjoys yoga, travel, paddle boarding, and biking. She finds a greater sense of belonging with th...
Oct 17, 2023•57 min
Sheala Durant is a writer, journalist and a working mom who was born in western Michigan in the late 1960s. She adopted into her family at a young age. 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 famil...
Oct 10, 2023•32 min
Michelle M. Hinton was born to a 17-year-old, at 8 weeks premature, and relinquished to social services. Her adoption court documents state that she was born out of wedlock, illegitimate, and her only name was “baby girl”. She's never seen her original birth certificate. 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 paren...
Oct 03, 2023•49 min
Susan Devan Harness is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and author of Mixing Cultural Identities Through Transracial Adoption , and multiple award-winning Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption, as well as an American Indian transracial adoptee. She has been interviewed for numerous podcasts, on public radio, and appeared on the TEDxMileHigh Stage talking about the issues of transracial adoption. Ms. Harness holds MAs in Cultural Anthropology and Creative Nonf...
Sep 26, 2023•47 min
Dr. Patrice Martin is a same race adoptee who lives in Nashville, TN with her family. In her profession she works in grants management in the nonprofit and forprofit sectors. She has always known she was adopted. She grew up in Pittsburgh, PA with a loving family. As life would have it she has had some twists and turns to her story. At about age 27 it was revealed to her that not only was she adopted which she knew, but there would be the possibility of never being able to find her biological fa...
Sep 19, 2023•57 min
Alieshaia is a 29 year old transracial adoptee from Upstate NY and currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee. She has recently begun her career as a school based occupational therapist. During her free time, she enjoys reading, visiting bookstores, playing video games, watching movies, sharing food and laughter with her friends and traveling with her boyfriend. 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 the...
Sep 12, 2023•46 min
Lena Skahill received her Master’s degree in Sociology in 2012 from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She is an adjunct professor of Sociology and Women’s and Ethic Studies at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She created her departments first courses in Adoption and Family Studies now available to all students regardless of their discipline. Lena has also given volunteered with adoption non-profits over the last decade and dedicated her academic career toward the pursuit ...
Sep 05, 2023•58 min
Corissa Saint Laurent is an inspirational speaker, podcast host, and soul guide on a quest to create greater meaning, higher purpose, and true joy for herself and others. She shares her experiences and expertise as a healer and teacher of deep soul knowledge through inspiring events and classes, and broadcasting and publishing. Currently, Corissa is the VP of Marketing and Business Development for a rainwater harvesting company and at the helm of her brand offering consulting, speaking, and soul...
Aug 29, 2023•59 min
Eight adoptee writers who are guests from previous episodes share their wonderful pieces/essays to inspire and uplift the adoption constellation. 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 Music by Corey Quinn...
Aug 22, 2023•56 min
Patrick Hawes was born in Asheville NC in August 1970. He was officially adopted at 6 weeks old, but from birth was separated from his birth mother. Patrick’s adoptive mother was Japanese and his adoptive father was American, so was raised in a bi-racial family, but in reverse since he is Caucasian. Sadly, his adoptive father passed away when he was 4 years old. 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 bullie...
Aug 22, 2023•54 min
Rob Reese was born in Busan, South Korea, but was adopted to a family in Denver, Colorado. His parents were so supportive of him being in extracurricular activities, like getting his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and earning Eagle Scout. Rob attended Metropolitan State University of Denver and earned a B.A. in International Business. He has the ambition of becoming a business analyst and is currently a retail manager at a clothing company called, The Normal Brand, in Denver. He still resides in Denv...
Aug 15, 2023•34 min
Ken R. DeStefano is a domestic adoptee that was born in the late 1960’s and raised in a caring and loving Italian home. As an adoptee, he had a largely happy life, but always wondered about the unknown. That curiosity led to a search for his own birth mother and a recent reunification with her. 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: ...
Aug 08, 2023•32 min
Brad Ewell an LDA late discovery adoptee, a husband, father, writer, and a police officer of 26 years. He made his adoption discovery in 2019 at 48 years old. Since that time he had his writing published in severancemag.com , told his story at a Moth main stage, been interviewed in several podcasts, and has a monthly column at http://www.lavendErluz.com/ Brad is in reunion with several members of his biological family and was able to help successfully advocate for his fathers release from prison...
Aug 01, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed.D., LCSW, LMFT, was the Founder and CEO of Center for Family Connections, Inc. (CFFC, 1995-2012) in Cambridge and New York, Founder and Director of Riverside After Adoption Consulting and Training (AACT, 2012 to 2015), PACT (Pre/Post Adoption Consulting and Training, 1982-present), and Pavao Consulting and Coaching. Dr. Pavao has done extensive training, both nationally and internationally. She is a lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and she has consult...
Jul 25, 2023•51 min
Dr. Liz DeBetta is an adoptee and interdisciplinary scholar-artist-activist whose work is grounded in creativity and social justice. Using storytelling and narrative techniques Liz invites others to create space for empathy and begin healing individual and collective trauma connected to race, gender, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, and other intersections of identity that are misunderstood or misrepresented in dominant culture. She is interested in performance based poetry and narrative writin...
Jul 18, 2023•53 min
Danielle Gaudette is a Body & Brain coach and author of Healing Tree: An Adoptee’s Story About Hurting, Healing and Letting the Light Shine Through. After her reunion with her birth mother twenty-four years ago, she began an energy practice to process the unraveling of her primal wound. She is now a 20-year senior trainer and seeks to share those healing principles and practices to help others find the courage to go inward and heal their hearts. https://www.daniellegaudette.com/ https://info...
Jul 11, 2023•1 hr 12 min
Today’s guest is Jonathan, a 58 year old adoptee living the suburban dream in a coastal town south of Boston, MA. He was born in November of 1964 in Albany, NY and grew up about an hour south of Albany. He moved to Boston for college in 1982, where he met his wife during his senior year. They married in October 1988 and have lived with a varying constellation of cats and dogs ever since. They have just one dog now, a miniature Schnauzer named Lucy. He has had a successful career in Human Service...
Jul 04, 2023•47 min
Beth Syverson is an adoptive mom of a vibrant and intuitive 19-year-old son Joey, who has been struggling to find his healing path. They created the Unraveling Adoption podcast together in 2021 in order to help other families learn from the challenges they've experienced. Beth is also the facilitator of APtitude: A Support Group for Adoptive Parents Facing Adoption’s Challenges, providing resources on the topics of addiction, adoption, mental health, and parenting. She is almost done with her tr...
Jun 27, 2023•44 min
Jack Rocco M.D. has more than thirty years as a practicing orthopedic surgeon. His work has taken him to many countries and cultures, including to Japan, where he served in the U.S. Air Force, and to Madagascar, where, through a nonprofit organization he established, he treated children suffering primarily from clubfoot. He has served on the board at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. Recycled, his first book, chronicles the behind-the-scenes, reluctant, and subconscious journey exp...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Chris Thomason just graduated from the University of California Los Angeles a few years ago and is currently a case worker in social work working with migrants going through citizenship as a translator. 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 ma...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 9 min
Rebecca Autumn Sansom is guided by the promise of a consciously evolving humanity. As a filmmaker, she was invited by Oregon's Congressman Blumenauer to screen her feature documentary about high-speed rail, Trainsforming America, at the Capitol in DC. She won a 2015 Midsouth regional Emmy for her work on Tout Your Town , a travel series produced by Genuine Human Productions, Nashville TN. As a native Nashvillian, Rebecca’s life has been steeped in the sounds of Music City. She is currently disru...
Jun 06, 2023•50 min
Fred Nicora has followed a path of unexplained restlessness ignited by undisclosed triggers in his efforts to find the right fit for his own identity and seek truth in his life. Careers explored on his journey include health care administration, architecture, business consulting, teaching, and his own entrepreneurial endeavors including a startup fitness-based company and now authoring his story of being thrust into the adoption triangle. Following his discovery, Fred struggled with drug and alc...
May 30, 2023•59 min
Erin Cosentino discovered she is an NPE in 2017, while trying to find out the truth about her grandfather's biological parents. In the last five years she has become an advocate for Adoptees, Donor Conceived folks, Late Discovery Adoptees and NPEs. Erin is a high school special educator, currently pursuing a Master's in Social Work. She lives at the beautiful Jersey Shore with her husband, adult children and her pup Cooper. https://www.facebook.com/groups/456700751111085 https://www.facebook.com...
May 23, 2023•47 min
Annie Persico was born and raised in the Bronx, New York and along with serving on the board of Hiraeth Hope and Healing, she has been a legal assistant for more than 35 years, currently working for a large New York City law firm for nearly 20 years. She has been married to her wife since 2004 and they currently have a dog, a blind cat and 7 tropical birds. Annie enjoys playing video games, reading, and most of all playing amateur genealogist both for herself and others. https://www.hiraethhopea...
May 16, 2023•54 min
Cindy McQuay co-founded Hiraeth, Hope and Healing https://www.hiraethhopeandhealing.com/?fbclid=IwAR1mKu4WhmEl8U7Vcy5r_Pd_Qqa7drS1AtU_Usl6QaN6Tvdg0Z_Vjef75CQ 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 ...
May 09, 2023•49 min
Music by Corey Quinn
May 02, 2023•25 min
