Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

Devon Shendleman is a transracial international adoptee born in India and raised in the U.S. He is a life and executive coach, Keynote speaker, author, CEO and Founder of Fortitude Associates, a premier global coaching firm. He is a veteran adoptee advocate in the community. He served 3 terms on the board of directors and nearly 10 years involved with Heritage Camps For Adoptive Families. Devon jo...

Tracey A. Marshall is a same race Black domestic adoptee originating from Chicago, Illinois who currently resides in a Chicagoland suburb. She is a woman of faith along side her husband, two daughters and grandchildren. Music by Corey Quinn

Noel Holton Brathwaite is an adoptee who lives in New York and is a tenured Associate Professor of English. Her husband is a scientist who works in the field of Computational Biology. They have a bright and talented son, who is a senior in college majoring in Physics. Music by Corey Quinn

Aimee Seiff Christian writes memoir and creative nonfiction. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, Hippocampus, Pidgeonholes, Atticus Review, SmokeLong Quarterly, Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. She is a contributing writer to Relative Strangers: Inheritance, Identity and the Meaning of Kinship. She is a writing instructor and develop...

Dr. Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed. D., LCSW, LMFT is a returning guest. She was the Founder and CEO of Center for Family Connections, Inc. in Cambridge and New York, Founder and Director of Riverside After Adoption Consulting and Training, PACT (Pre/Post Adoption Consulting and Training, and Pavao Consulting and Coaching. Dr. Pavao has done extensive training, both nationally and internationally. She is...

Elizabeth Barbour. M.Ed. is an adoptee and adoptive mom with 27 years of reunion experience. In 1999, she found her birth mom, birth dad 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. Elizabeth helps people find grace and grounding amidst the grief and complexi...

Gretchen Sisson, PhD, is a sociologist who studies abortion and adoption in the United States. She is a researcher at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, part of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research examining adoption decision-making after abortion denial (as part of The Turnaway Study) was cite...

Diana Kayla Hochberg is the author of Connected: Finding My Truth and a late-discovery Black Market Baby. Born in Montreal during the Baby Scoop Era and brought to the United States as an infant, Diana spent decades believing the story she had been told about her beginnings. Then, at thirty-eight years old, she uncovered a life-changing truth: there were no adoption papers, she had never been lega...

Charity Barriere Muhammed is an educator, author, speaker, and advocate whose life journey bridges adoption, genealogy, trauma recovery, and Black history. After spending 41 years separated from her biological father, she discovered she is the daughter of Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project. Her reunion has transformed her understanding of identity, family, and legacy while in...

Charity Barriere Muhammad is an educator, author, speaker, and advocate whose life journey bridges adoption, genealogy, trauma recovery, and Black history. After spending 41 years separated from her biological father, she discovered she is the daughter of Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project. Her reunion has transformed her understanding of identity, family, and legacy while in...

Ronnie Jacobs Jr. is an educator, consultant and podcaster of Firepit Conversations with his brother Aaron. A life long learner, uncle, and dedicated partner. Firepit Conversations - Podcast Music by Corey Quinn

Ronnie Jacobs Jr. is an educator, consultant and podcaster of Firepit Conversations with his brother Aaron. A life long learner, uncle, and dedicated partner. Firepit Conversations - Podcast Music by Corey Quinn

Original air date: July 25, 2024 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 e...

Brittney Lee aka Bonya (she/they) is a child and family wellness consultant with lived expertise, and an intersectional storyteller passionate about the abolition of family policing systems. She has a strong track record of advancing complex projects that serve diverse and underserved populations. Her work has included supporting legislatively mandated committees, developing workshops, social medi...

Yvette Monique is a kinship adoptee. She has held various role in the healthcare for over 35 years. She holds an Associate Degree in Nursing, Bachelor's Degree in Business and a Master's Degree in Human Resources Management. Yvette is a Certified Birth Justice Doula and currently working on becoming a Certified Professional Midwife in the fall of the year. She is the mother of 2 adult children, 3...

Original air date: March 21, 2023 Hannah Andrews was born in Chicago and was adopted as an infant during the Baby Scoop Era. She was raised on a Midwestern farm with two older adoptee brothers. In 2018, a chance meeting with an author birthmother sent Hannah in search of her own history. She found more questions than answers, but found guidance and community from fellow triad members. She joined t...

Loren Stephens is the author of “All Sorrows Can Be Borne” her debut novel based on her husband's (Dana Miyoshi) personal story and that of his birth family set in Japan and Montana during and after World War Two. Loren is a short story writer and a ghostwriter with some forty books credited to her Los Angeles based company, Write Wisdom. In addition to her author/client projects she is at work on...

Dana Miyoshi was born in Osaka, Japan and was adopted by his aunt and uncle who resided in Montana. He flew by himself on a plane from Tokyo to San Francisco when he was 2.5 years old to meet his new parents and grew up in Glendive, Montana. After graduating from high school, he spent one year at the University of Montana and then dropped out to join the U.S. Navy. He served for 11 years in the Na...

Jonathan Todd Newbern ( 2nd legal name ) is a domestic, same race, late discovery adoptee. Having intuitions and instincts that he was always adopted from a very young age. Only to find out at the age of eighteen, that his instincts were true, and he was adopted. Jonathan stepped into true adoption consciousness in his late thirties and works in a 12 Step co- dependency group. You might have seen...

Maya Holmes is a returning guest. Maya (she/her) is a same race domestic adoptee from St. Louis, MO. She has been active in the adoptee community since 2020/21 after finding her first family. Maya has been featured on several adoption focused podcasts and has begun writing her memoir. Outside of the adoption space, Maya recently completed her MSW/MBA and plans to continue working as a therapist. S...

Cynthia Boone is a returning guest. She is a Late Discovery Adoptee who learned she was adopted just two days after her 46th birthday. Her journey to truth unfolded over several years—first reuniting with her birthmother, and later, through AncestryDNA, connecting with her birthfather’s family. These discoveries reshaped her understanding of identity, family, and belonging. An educator for 39 year...

Keith Sciarillo is a returning guest. He is a Late Discovery Adoptee who is also of a different race than the family that he was adopted into. He is 1 of 8 children that his biological mother had relinquished for Adoption. He grew up in a family of 6 children in which he is the only one that is adopted. A loving father and Accounting professional currently residing in the DC metropolitan area. Con...

Alex has over 40 years of creative process and production experience in marketing, advertising, and commercial and feature film production (Behind Enemy Lines, Fox 2001; Flight of the Phoenix, Fox 2004). He has been the recipient of multiple advertising industry awards for creativity and innovation as a manager of creative talent and production company owner, For the last 15+ years, he has been co...

Tracy Clark-Flory is a journalist, essayist, and author of the new memoir My Mother’s Daughter: Finding Myself in My Family’s Fractured Past , which Kirkus calls “powerful,” “deeply researched,” “lyrically written,” and “moving.” New York Times bestselling author Peggy Orenstein says Clark-Flory “connects the dots between her own life, the reader’s, and the larger culture, turning the family story...

Anne Peshka is an author, speaker, and certified Core Energy Coach who helps people break free from the patterns that keep them stuck and create lives rooted in truth, connection, and purpose. As both an adoptee and a birth mother, Anne brings a rare and deeply personal perspective to conversations around identity, trauma, and healing. She is the author of Trauma Recycled, a raw and honest memoir...