Dr. Juliana Olson Deans is back! She is a licensed professional counselor, mental health counselor, and national certified counselor who imparted great wisdom in episode 5 and co-founded the Interracial Adoptee Panel series with me this past summer. Juliana is here with her husband Derek. As I said before, these familial chats are the most challenging conversations to have yet these conversations can change a life. I personally have experienced that. It’s all in pursuit of stronger relationships...
Dec 19, 2020•38 min
Today I chat with Christine Heimann who is the co-founder and executive director of Adoptee Bridge where they offer education, mentorships and support for international adoptees and their families from any age. GUEST: Christine Heimann Organization "Adoptee Bridge": https://www.adopteebridge.org/ Support the show CONNECT WITH HOST: @youngadoptee @lantoines www.laniseantoineshelley.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE Here ! MERCH here "I am my Hero" and "Courage, my love" Tees SPONSORSHIPS: BetterHelp Show Link...
Dec 12, 2020•31 min
I want to highlight one of my favorite films, the light hearted comedic French film “He even has your eyes” available on Netflix. It’s about a Congolese couple who want to adopt and end up with a Caucasian blue eyed baby. If you were shocked by that image, that's exactly why they made the film to address the double standards and prejudices in interracial adoption. The way they highlight the social workers and family responses is hilarious, but true. Marissa Lichwick is an actress and filmmaker w...
Dec 05, 2020•52 min
Part of the Adoptive parent conversation series! We are back withe Schai who graced us in episode 4 with her poetry. This is the conclusion of Schai’s conversation with her brothers Manny and Jaccen. They go in about their own individual adoption journeys and give us some advice on how we can do adoption better. At the very end I check in with Schai to see how she thought the interview went, so stay tuned for that. This trio is incredibly inspiring! I love how they support and uplift one another...
Nov 28, 2020•46 min
Part of Adoptive parent conversation series! We are back with sister soldier Schai, who interviews her two brothers; one is biological and the other is adopted. She leads them through a conversation on how she met her twin in adulthood, how they think adoption could be improved and what it means to have them all get along within this complicated familial web. What a beautiful model of a whole hearted conversation. GUEST: Schai Belair-Toussaint Schairer www.fistdc.org Support the show CONNECT WIT...
Nov 21, 2020•47 min
Part of Adoptive parent conversation series! Interracial Adoptee Panelist, Laurie Nordahl chats with her parents about how the family received her when they brought her home from Colombia, ethics behind adoption and the importance of consent when someone needs space to process their feelings. I gave Laurie core questions and she created her own powerful conversations that surprised even her. Such incredible work! GUEST: Laurie Nordahl Support the show CONNECT WITH HOST: @youngadoptee @lantoines ...
Nov 14, 2020•1 hr 21 min
Part of Adoptive parent conversation series! This is the conclusion of a conversation with Richard and Lionel Boisvert tackles the efficacy of adoption support groups and how one prepares a black child for the black community and the police. At the very end, I check-in with Lionel to see how it went for him. Lionel Boivert is a Haitian adoptee who came from the same orphanage as me, "Haiti Home For Children." We might have even been at the orphanage the same time but officially met this year whe...
Nov 07, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Part of Adoptive parent conversation series! In this compelling conversation a white father and black son discuss growing up in South Carolina in an all white community, their support systems and what prompted the father to adopt as a single parent. GUEST: Lionel Boisvert (Adoptee) & Richard Boisvert (Father) Support the show CONNECT WITH HOST: @youngadoptee @lantoines www.laniseantoineshelley.com WATCH ON YOUTUBE Here ! MERCH here "I am my Hero" and "Courage, my love" Tees SPONSORSHIPS: Bet...
Oct 31, 2020•1 hr
This week performer and artist Indigo Ciochetti and I chat about the book My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me by German adoptee, Jennifer Teege. Teege discovers that she has an ancestral connection to the Nazi’s, most specifically Amon Goeth, an infamous commander of a concentration camp featured in Schindler's List. She, of course, is distraught by this revelation considering that she is a half black half white German adoptee who'd spent time studying in Israel. At the outset she has just discove...
Oct 24, 2020•32 min
This week I give reflections of my journey into the adoption community. October 17th is my birthday, so I am celebrating it in different ways. Many adoptees (including myself) find it hard to truly celebrate themselves, birthdays and holidays. These things can trigger scarcity and shame. I'd like to invite you to celebrate your worthy existence. If you take note of the bad, why not celebrate the small and large triumphs of the everyday. There are many aspects of my life that are not ideal at the...
Oct 17, 2020•14 min
Kim Noonan is a filmmaker and the host of the podcast "Multi-Racial White Boy." Kim and I talk about the idea of “whiteness” which is pervasive in the interracial adoptee community. Some adoptees grow up wanting to “be white” in order to fit in. I was lucky enough to have black role models in the dance world who encouraged me to love my skin. James Baldwin wrote an exquisite short essay called “White…and other lies,” which I've included in show notes below. As participants in this community we m...
Oct 10, 2020•47 min
Warning! This episode mentions sexual violence. This episode unpacks the healing powers of the blog "The Lost Daughters." Amanda created the blog, whose group of adoptee contributors is ever growing, to propagate her mission of empowerment and peace. I found the blog on facebook and submitted a piece on racism. Amanda is a licensed master social worker, a therapist, an author, a speaker, podcast host and teacher. She is also the co-founder and co-owner of Roots Incorporated. This conversation il...
Oct 03, 2020•41 min
This week I spend time with my dear friend, Canadian actress Brigit Wilson. She and I played witches in stratford Shakespeare Festival's 2016 production of Macbeth. This week we examine the definition of "orphan" and how it has been depicted throughout our favorite plays in Shakespeare and stories like Anne of Green Gables. Brigit graced the boards of stratford for 14 years in acclaimed roles in As You Like It, The Alchemist, King John, Pericles, Peter Pan and many others. One day in rehearsal w...
Sep 26, 2020•53 min
I sit down with William Uhrlaub, a Haitian adoptee who has taught himself Creole after reunifying with his biological family. He was a panelist on the Interracial Adoptee Panel Series: Biological Family where he shared his reunification story and how he managed to assimilate into Haitian culture. William encapsulates the power of finding your "people" and merging your life with a culture you thought you had lost. He found it, ya'll! Let this inspire you to do the same. GUEST: William Uhrlaub LIN...
Sep 19, 2020•43 min
Dr Borda, PHD, LMFT, LMHC, ACC, CHT joined us as an expert for the third panel: Myth Busters. She returns to give us an in-depth view of her work in the adoption realm, combating “compassion fatigue” for doctors, the re-traumatizing nature of “re-homing” children who’ve been adopted into the wrong family and grief counseling for parents who’ve struggled having a child biologically. Dr. Borda founded The Wellness Project, Inc for practitioners suffering from exhaustion fatigue to increase their o...
Sep 12, 2020•44 min
I reached out to Melissa who is actively on the front lines of educating people in the adoption community. We discuss the harmful language Abby Johnson uses to describe her own adopted son in the infamous youtube video. There are misconceptions about the black community that she perpetuates with alarming conviction. Melissa is a formidable essayist, mother, blogger, author (THE WHITE SAVIOR MENTALITY will be out in Fall 2021) and podcast host. GUEST: Melissa Guida-Richards guida-richards.com htt...
Sep 05, 2020•42 min
This week I reach out to my biological aunt Dr. Juliana Olson-Deans who is a fellow adoptee as well as an adoption therapist. We discuss the 9 character types of the enneagram and how we're using the information to navigate our budding relationship. You may recognize Dr. Deans from the Interracial Adoptee Panel series, where she was co-host. I was first introduced to the Enneagram by Dr. Barbara Rila's podcast on Trauma and adoption. This episode distills how important it is to process one's gri...
Aug 29, 2020•37 min•Season 1Ep. 5
This week I discuss the exquisite poetry of Schai Belair-Toussaint Schairer, a fellow sister in adoption, spoken word poet and founder of F.I.S.T. (Fighting Injustice Standing Together) a non-profit organization working to empower incarcerated women through writing. Schai was a panelist on three of the four International Adoptee Panels sponsored by USFCH. She and I unpack her motivation for writing and confront our own privilege, resilience and Haitian pride. GUEST: Schai Belair-Toussaint Schair...
Aug 22, 2020•57 min
I have the rare opportunity to interview my mother, Karla Shelley-Albert and my godmother Heidi Husted-Armstrong. It’s an incredibly unique thing for an adoptee to interview their parental figures, most parents refuse, but mine were eager to support me in this endeavor. They, like myself are committed to educating the adoption community, which means getting vulnerable and embracing all perspectives. Throughout this podcast series you will hear more conversations with adoptees and parents as we s...
Aug 15, 2020•51 min
I continue my conversation with The president and CEO of Fondation pour les Enfants d’Haiti, Gladys Thomas. Gladys addresses why she stopped facilitating adoptions, how she introduced her adopted son to his family and what adoptees should do under the pressure of supporting their biological family once they grow up. She is the recipient of recipient of its 2013 William Jefferson Clinton and Goodwill for Haiti Award. GUEST: Gladys Thomas http://www.usfch.org/ Watch panels: https://www.facebook.co...
Aug 08, 2020•48 min
Episode 1. Gladys Thomas: Finding Courage (Part. 1) The president and CEO of Fondation Pour Les Enfants d'Haiti (sister organization to US Foundation for the Children of Haiti) the organization helming the orphanage I came from, once called Haiti Home for Children and later was known as Rainbow of Love Nursery. Gladys is one of the most powerful voices in adoption. She is an adoptive mother herself, administrator, leader, nurse, woman of faith and visionary. She has spent 39 years at the helm of...
Jul 28, 2020•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1
