Adoptees On

230 | Marcy Axness, Ph. D. Today we are excited to welcome Marcy Axness, Ph. D.. This episode is a mix of a history lesson about adoptee activism and the psychological impacts of infant and mother separation. Marcy has her Ph. D. in Early Human Development, and brings a unique expertise and lens to the adopted person's experience. We discuss what it's like if we bring consciousness to our experien...

229 | Tiffany Henness Today we get to introduce you to our friend, Tiffany Henness. Tiffany shares her story of growing up in an open adoption, and how it isn't the panacea that many hold it up to be. We discuss how she came to explore race, adoption, and faith and what shifted her perspectives on all of those topics. Now, Tiffany is an adoption and racial literacy expert who writes, speaks, and l...

228 | Grace Kelly We have to admit this is the first featured guest we've had on the show who is not adopted. We are excited to introduce you to Grace Kelly, who has successfully had her adoption reversed in Australia and now works to help other Australians annul their adoptions. We discuss the impact having her adoption reversed has had on her personal healing journey and Grace also shares about...

227 | Adoptee Remembrance Day Adoptee Remembrance Day is commemorated annually on October 30th. It is a day to remember our adoptee friends who have died by suicide. On this day we also acknowledge the adopted people who are without citizenship in the very country they were taken to as infants or children. We think of those who have suffered abuse at the hands of their adoptive parents and grieve...

226 | Harrison Mooney Today we are so honoured to introduce you to Harrison Mooney, author of the incredible new memoir, Invisible Boy, where he exposes the trauma of transracial adoption. Harrison shares with us why family preservation is so important to him, and how he was able to reconnect with his biological mother after a lengthy time of silence between them. We talk about the complexities of...

225 | Ethan Ferkiss Today we are joined by Ethan Ferkiss to share his heartwarming reunion story. Expecting rejection or indifference, Ethan wasn't prepared for his search to end in what he calls the "jackpot scenario: a full-scale welcome". But as you can guess, navigating new relationships with four adult siblings, his biological mother, and his biological father, has been a whirlwind and can be...

224 | [Healing Series] I Will Not Abandon Myself Janet Nordine, MS, LMFT, RPT-S is back to talk about adoptee self-worth. So many of us tell ourselves the story over and over of, "there must be something wrong with me because I wasn't worth keeping". Janet talks us through a new phrase we can say to ourselves, "I will not abandon myself when I need myself the most." This episode is for you if you'...

223 | Tony Corsentino We are honoured to introduce you to Tony Corsentino today! As a philosophy professor turned public librarian, Tony walks us through some of the best strategies he's used to challenge the traditional adoption narrative. He also teaches us the differences between privacy and secrecy and he shares the importance of adoptees listening to the stories of others who have experienced...

222 | Kara Bos Kara Bos is one of the first adoptees to ever successfully win a paternity lawsuit in South Korea. Kara's biological father was compelled by the courts to take a DNA test confirming his genetic connection to Kara which in turn allowed her to be added to the family registry as his daughter. We talk about the difficulties of disenfranchised grief she experienced when he died only six...

221 | Haley Does DNA Testing In the final episode before our summer break, guest host Lisette Austin interviews Haley Radke! We are talking all about DNA testing: what made Haley finally take the plunge, which companies she chose to use, and about all the surprise feelings that came up. Haley also did this weird podcaster thing where she recorded her inner thoughts while spitting in the tubes… so...

220 | Christina Romo Today guest host Lisette Austin speaks with Christina Romo, creator of the blog called Diary of a Not-So-Angry Asian Adoptee. Christina shares about her career path in the adoption world and how she has finally found a position that she feels aligns with her personal work in adoptee advocacy. Lisette and Christina discuss the complexities that come with being close with adopti...

219 | The Flourish Experience Today we are talking about The Flourish Experience. You're going to hear from multiple people who participated in a year-long group focused in on adoptee community through writing and sharing together weekly. I hope what you hear is that connecting deeply with other adopted people is possible. So many of them share that by being vulnerable they've been able to be trul...

218 | Dr. Jenny Heijun Wills We are honoured to have the brilliant Dr. Jenny Heijun Wills return to Adoptees On today. We talk about what reunion has looked like in the time since she's published her award-winning memoir, Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related., including the practical "how-tos" of maintaining a relationship with a family member that lives abroad and speaks a different language. Je...

217 | Lisa Bird-Wilson I am thrilled to introduce you to today's guest, Lisa Bird-Wilson, the author of the phenomenal novel, Probably Ruby. We talk about what it means to be Indigenous and adopted into a white family and how she has now spent decades exploring her Metis identity. Lisa shares some behind-the-scenes info about the process of writing Probably Ruby, why she's currently writing a memo...

216 | Annalisa Toccara Today guest host Lisette Austin speaks with Annalisa Toccara, the co-founder of the UK organization, Adoptee Futures. Annalisa shares about the complexities of her relationship with her adoptive family, and her experience coming "out of the fog." Lisette and Annalisa also discuss grief and loss, they've both lost an adoptive parent within the last year or two. Annalisa talks...

215 | Lee Herrick Today's guest is the exceptional poet Lee Herrick. If you haven't read any of Lee's work, today is the day to make a purchase at your favourite bookstore! Lee is a Korean adoptee and shares how he found out later in life he was born in a completely different city than he was told. We discuss poetry as a social critique, surviving feelings of deep despair, and how writing poetry a...

214 | Sunny Reed We are thrilled to talk with Sunny Reed while she's right in the midst of her Ph. D. program developing a new transformational framework for transnational adoption. We believe her focus on connecting critical adoption research studies with existing child-focused and child-centering scholars is going to be revolutionary over the next decade. Haley and Sunny discuss some of what tha...

213 | Kendra Mylnechuk Potter Guest host Lisette Austin speaks with Kendra Mylnechuk Potter, actor, yoga teacher, Native adoptee, and subject of the documentary, Daughter of Lost Bird. Kendra shares her powerful adoption and reunion story, about navigating identity issues while claiming her cultural heritage, and what it was like to reunite with her biological mother, family, and community as part...

212 | Mary Anna King Today the author of our April Adoptees On(ly) book club pick, B______s is with us! Mary Anna King was one of our very first podcast guests almost six years ago on season one. We discuss the challenges of being a kinship adoptee, the things that are often overlooked (like estrangements and other conflicts) that can force children to be unfairly used as weapons. We also talk abo...

211 | Sullivan Summer Today's guest is the brilliant Sullivan Summer! Growing up as a black transracial adoptee with white adoptive parents, Sullivan was actively discouraged from identifying as black by her adoptive mother. She shares about her recent decision to change her full name as a sign of identity reclamation and we also discuss the intersection of adoption, race, and the United States' h...

210 | Stephanie Drenka Today's guest is the incredible Stephanie Drenka, and we say incredible because she saw the need for an online platform for underrepresented communities and went ahead and built VISIBLE magazine in one night. Stephanie talks about her shifting view of adoption over time, how being raised in a predominantly white community caused her to experience internalized racism, and why...

209 | Dr. Hollee McGinnis The indomitable Dr. Hollee McGinnis is on the podcast today! Many of you have definitely heard of Hollee and her immense contributions to the adoptee community both academically as a scholar and as a community builder which includes starting the adoptee-centric organization, Also Known As, over 25 years ago. Today we get to talk about some deeply personal topics to Hollee...

Guest host Lisette Austin interviews her close lifelong friend Iana, who helped Lisette find her birth father using genetic genealogy. Iana shares her adoption and reunion story, and what led her to "come out of the fog" and begin exploring adoptee issues. She also shares what led her to become interested in genealogy, the importance of having a close adoptee friend, and what her top adoptee resou...

Today we're talking with Lisette Austin, who is going to have a very special role here at Adoptees On, but we won't spoil exactly what that is, yet. Lisette is an award-winning podcaster, passionate about travel, and also happens to be one of Haley's good friends. We discuss what it's meant for Lisette to learn more about her biological family using DNA testing and genealogical research and we sha...

Today we are honoured to introduce you to Mike Trupiano. Mike shares about his painful childhood, marred by violence and a feeling of being fully unwanted.  We talk about adoptee healing, about searching for his biological family, which included a literal doorstop visit where he dressed up as a delivery driver. He's a skilled storyteller, actor and comedian, also a sober coach. Now living in Germa...