The Adoption Files

Please join me for a conversation with Toronto Canada stepparent adopted person Craig Wallace. https://www.ontario.ca/page/search-adoption-records People who are adopted, even by stepparents, are legally barred from accessing a certified copy of their original birth certificate. Some places allow an adopted person to access a noncertified copy at a specified age. The opinions of the host and their...

Please join me and Dani Joy as we explore the next two Cs of spiritual trauma: Consequences and Compliance. We continue to explore how spiritual trauma plays out in our lives as a mother of loss to adoption and as an adopted person. We are reading the book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride, PhD https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ http...

Please join me as I talk with New York adoptee, Elizabeth Barbour Elizabeth Barbour (she/her) is an adoptee and adoptive mom with 27 years of reunion experience. In 1999, she found her birthmom, birthdad and eleven (!) brothers and sisters. An adoption reunion coach, speaker and author of two books, she’s currently writing her third about building healthy relationships in adoption reunions.  Eliz...

Please join me for part 2 of my conversation with Ohio adoptee and author Paige L Adams Strickland Paige can be found places online, including: @paigestricklanddom https://paigestrickland.substack.com/ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7263308.Paige_L_Adams_Strickland https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-talk-about-the-different-types-of-adoption/id1598023322?i=1000585139950 https://podcast...

Please join me as I talk with Paige L Adams Strickland, Ohio adoptee and author Paige has been a guest on the podcast in the past. This two episode talks a bit more about just what is included when an Ohio adopted person requests their adoption file. Paige can be found at numerous places online, including: @paigestricklanddom https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/134608472-akin-to-the-truth https://...

Please join me as I continue my conversation with mother of loss to adoption Cindy Shultz. We talk about how the loss of a child can lead to substance use, and how the love of a child can lead to sobriety. Cindy Shultz is a mother of church-coerced child loss who transforms lived experience into advocacy. Raised in the shadow of poverty and stigma, Cindy was a mother in crisis when Catholic Charit...

Please join Dani and I as we continue to grapple with how spiritual and religious trauma have impacted our lives both through the lens of adoption and in our lives in general. Our conversation is being guided by the book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ Dani can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy https://www.apa....

Join Dani Joy and I as we talk about what we have learned so far as we finish Chaper 2 of Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride PhD Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health The opinions of the host and their guest are just t...

Please join Dani Joy and I as we continue to talk about spiritual trauma and adoption, using the book Holy Hurt: Understadning Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride, PhD Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health The opinions of the host and their gue...

Please join Dani Joy and I as we continue our conversation about spiritual trauma and adoption, using the book Holy Hurt: Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing, by Hillary L McBride, PhD. We have reached page 28, and are talking about McBrides' lists of the physical, social, relational and spiritual symptoms of spiritual trauma. Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy Holy...

Please join Dani and I as we continue to explore the intersection of adoption and spiritual trauma. We continue to use the book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride, PhD as a framework for our conversation. Today we cover material from pages 37-48 Dani Joy is a first mom. She can be found at https://medium.com/@danijoy I am a Late Discovery, Int...

Please join me and Adriana Rockefeller as we talk about what has happened in her fight to be recognized as a person since we spoke early last year in a two part interview here on the podcast. Adriana is still fighting to be recognized by Romania and Canada as a legal person. You can be a part of making that happen, as her court case continues. Adriana was raised as Roxana Pamela. Two years ago, sh...

Just a short episode sharing some of what came up for me after talking with mom Cindy Shultz. Reconciling the reality of how the adoption industry uses coercion to separate families with the stereotypes and the myth of Rescue that is presented to adopted people is an ongoing struggle for me. As my (now retired) therapist used to ask: How is that story serving you? The opinion of the host is just t...

Please join me as I talk with mom Cindy Shultz about her experience with open adoption. Cindy Shultz is a mother of church-coerced child loss who transforms lived experience into advocacy. Raised in the shadow of poverty and stigma, Cindy was a mother in crisis when Catholic Charities pressured her into relinquishing her son in a process she felt powerless to stop. This experience of unnecessary c...

Please join mom, adoptee advocate, writer and homesteader Dani Joy and me as we continue to explore the intersection of spiritual trauma and adoption through our conversation with the book Holy Hurt, Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride PhD. https://medium.com/@danijoy https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/...

Please join me as I speak with the board of Adoptees for Family Preservation. AdopteesFFP.org was formed with the goal of supporting advocacy and education about the way that the adoption industry functions today and to promote family preservation rather than family dissolution. The board members all bring their own lived experience as adopted people to the conversation, along with their skills as...

First mom Dani Joy joins me as we discuss spiritual trauma through the lens of adoption. We are reading and discussing the book Holy Hurt, by Hillary L McBride PhD. We hope the listeners will join us in this journey to understand and to navigate adoption related spiritual and religious trauma. https://medium.com/@danijoy https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseas...

Dani Joy, first mom, birthmothers rights advocate, adoptee ally. amazing friend joins me in reviewing the book Holy Hurt Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L Mc Bride PhD. https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/ We are reviewing the book from the perspectives of a mother of loss to adoption and a person lost to adoption. Religion contributed a great deal to th...

This episode is the conclusion to my trip to Georgia, hoping to meet maternal family, and walk in circles for a lot of hours just in case no one showed up.

Day two here. My day to stretch out after traveling. One of my free time days that I hoped to meet family. I deliberately included a week day and a weekend day, because, timing? Have you ever thought about the way you move? How some, any of your gestures may mirror those of a family member? How seeing them in yourself may make for a sense of belonging? I would love to experience that. Have you?

This is a messy episode. I recorded this at the end of a very long day where i woke up at 2 am, drove an hour to an airport and then wore an itchy mask for ten hours to get to a place I am not sure I want to be in order to do one thing I want to do and feel conflicted about another thing I am not sure is going to happen or if I want it to happen if it does. I am in Georgia for an Ultra. I am in Ge...

Listen to learn about Californias new bill designed to restore unrestricted access to original birth certificates for people adopted in California. You can be a part of making history and restoring equality! The bill: CA SB 381 2026 (this number was assigned to a housing bill for last legislative session. This will change when session for this year opens) Sponsor: Author Senator Aisha Wahab The bi...

The road to hell is paved in good intentions. What might this have to do with adoption? Listen to this conversation with embodiment instructor and adoptee rights advocate Lorah Gerald, also known as The Adopted Chameleon on social media. Information about Lorah and links to her social media can be found at https://lorahgerald.com/ Mentioned in the episode http://kathrynjoyce.com/books/the-child-ca...

Mary Kae Kelsch was adopted in 1970 in North Dakota, but was she born there? Where is her birth certificate located? Please join as we talk about the laws in North Dakota and Minnesota, about reunion, and about the importance of every voice. Mentioned in the episode: https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/vitalrecords/adoption.html https://adopteerightslaw.com/north-dakota/ https://www.imdb.com/tit...

Please join us for the conclusion of my conversation with Adriana, a Romanian person fraudulently adopted to Canada as an infant in 1991. Adriana can be found on social media @adriana.citizenornowhere on ig and TikTok. More of Adrianas story can be found using the links below. Adriana was the subject of a documentary in French, as well as several news aritcles. A link to an English translation is...