Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories

Patsy Brooks-Tallant is a member of the Baby Scoop Era, the mid-20th-century period when societal pressures often forced unmarried or young mothers to surrender their infants for adoption. Born to a 21-year-old mother already raising four children, Patsy’s pregnancy stemmed from an affair while the mother’s military husband was overseas. To this day—over 63 years later—he believes Patsy is merely...

A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Susan "Cricket" Fedorko (Grand Portage Band of Chippewa - Oijbwe) has contributed her writing to four anthologies on the subject of being adopted and has done numerous media interviews. Her Chippewa - Oijbwe, birthmother, a famous supermodel, died in 1997, a short distance from Susan's home. Suzie always knew she was adopted out at the early...

Jackson TerKeurst is an author, speaker, and adoptee originally from Liberia, West Africa. At seven years old, he was separated from his family during the Liberian civil war and spent years living in an orphanage. At age 15, Jackson came to the United States as part of the African Children’s Choir, where his journey eventually led to his adoption by an American family. Despite arriving with limite...

Although born and adopted in London in 1967, Anne-Grete is a Norwegian adoptee. Her birth mother happened to be there when she gave birth, and her adoptive dad was stationed at the Norwegian Embassy at the time. She had two siblings, both adopted from different cities in Norway. After moving around the world with her family, she came back to Norway for good when she was 16. After finishing her stu...

Samantha (Sam) Shields was born in San Francisco in 1970 and adopted from foster care as an infant. She grew up in nearby Napa knowing she was adopted, and provided many of the same platitudes as a lot of other adopted people:  She wanted you to have a better life. She did what was best for you because she loved you.  But Sam was certain something was wrong with her. Why else had she been placed f...

Originally from Chicago,  Gabriel is an adult adoptee, street dancer, reconnecting P’urhépecha native, founder of MoFundamentals - the only foster-adoptee-led dance program in the U.S.- and artivist dedicated to highlighting the resiliency of the foster-adoptee community in Los Angeles. His work includes visibilizing powerful narratives rooted in foster care memory while honoring P’urhépecha and s...

Born & adopted in 1970 as an infant, Lynn always knew she was adopted. Told the sweet stories of being chosen & special. Lynn’s story later revealed many secrets & lies. Lynn grew up in a middle-class family with both parents, teachers & a brother 8 years older, biological to her adoptive parents. The secret revealed at 16 yrs old was that this was a kinship adoption & she’d kn...

Mary Lynn  was born in March of 1966 and spent her first ten months in foster care before being adopted and brought to Pittsburgh as an infant. Her foster mother later sent a heartfelt letter to her adoptive parents, carefully recording early milestones—first steps, first words, favorite foods—clear signs that  Mary Lynn  was well loved from the very beginning. Still, one question stayed with her...

Adopted as an infant by a naval officer and his wife during the Baby Scoop Era, Diane Wheaton has always heard conflicting versions of the truth of her origins — but it’s not until she is forty-seven years old that she begins to search for her biological family in earnest. Amid search and reunion, however, Diane’s adoptive parents become ill — and while overseeing their care, she is told about a s...

Jae  Carelli was adopted from Korea at 5 months old and is the oldest of 5 children adopted from Korea through Holt International. They grew up in New Jersey and Cape Cod, and attended the Boston Conservatory at Berklee for their Bachelor's. They struggled with mental health issues as a child and young adult, which sent them on a journey, reckoning with their adoption, through multiple unsuccessfu...

Virginia McQueen Laney is an adoptee in a blended family who is building meaningful work through an adoptee- and queer-centered collaborative practice. Her work extends beyond individual mental health to include advocacy for adoptee rights, collaboration with tribal communities, and serving the LGBTQIA2+ community. She is the founder of the Bozeman Identity Counseling Center . She holds a Master o...

At the age of sixty, Alex Blum made a life-altering discovery: he was the eldest of four biological brothers he never knew existed. Born in 1955, Blum had always known he was adopted, yet the secrecy of the era kept every detail of his origins sealed. Without a court order, he spent decades without a single clue about where he came from—or why he had been given up. Raised by a wealthy family on Ma...

Dr. Lisa Chism is the Clinical Director of the Oakland Macomb Center for Breast Health. She holds four specialty certifications, including Menopause Practitioner through The Menopause Society, Sexuality Counselor through the American Association of Sexuality Therapists, Counselors and Therapists, and Breast Care certification through the Oncology Nursing Society after 15 years of caring for breast...

Born into Roma heritage and adopted at just six weeks old, Mioara was raised by a Canadian/New Zealand family, growing up between cultures while carrying a quiet curiosity about her own origins. In 2018, with the help of her father-in-law, she reconnected with her biological parents—an experience that reshaped her understanding of identity, belonging, and the unseen threads that connect us. Throug...

Jeff was born in San Francisco in October 1962. He was relinquished at birth and placed with his adoptive family three months later, in January 1963. His family moved from the Bay Area to Southern California when he was five years old. His older sister was also adopted, and both children grew up in a caring, loving home. They were informed of their adoptions at an early age, and the topic was alwa...

Born in 1968 in Fargo, ND, during the Baby Scoop Era, Greta spent a month in foster care before being adopted. She was never touched or held by her first mother. Greta was raised in a dysfunctional family, which contributed to her pain and the deep loss she felt, wondering who her first mother was and why she didn't want her. Shrouded in secrecy, adoption was never discussed, and Greta retreated i...

Raven was born in 1949 in North Hollywood, CA. Released at five days old to the delivering doctor and his wife, she has no idea where she went or when her adoptive parents got her. Raised in Balboa, CA, she always knew she was adopted because she was told her mother had died, giving birth to her. This story left Raven anxious, guilty, and fearful throughout her growing-up years- that others would...

Valorie was born in New Jersey, she was relinquished at birth and placed with her adopted family at 2 months old.  There were many difficulties and challenges growing up, it certainly was not a fairytale childhood.  Some of the challenges included not bonding with her adopted mother, problems at school with other children and authority figures, drug and alcohol addiction in her teen years.  Despit...

Emma was born in Tennessee in 1989 and flown home just two days later — on Valentine’s Day. As a child, her adoption seemed more like a fairytale than a lived experience. Growing up in the country in an old farm house in the rolling blue hills of Western Massachusetts, she spent most days drawing, writing or exploring the fields and woods. Despite her home and her loving and creative family, she b...

Season 11 concludes with Monica Hall, Jesse Scott, and Liz Harvie discussing their powerful books - Practically Still a Virgin , You Can’t Get Rid of Me , and Unspoken - and exploring the many layers of the adoptee experience. In a deep and honest conversation with hosts Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne, themes of identity, belonging, truth, and voice are thoughtfully examined. Each book offers a...

Maria was born and raised in the SF Bay Area in a hippie town full of diversity and freedom.  Her journey began in a temporary foster home until she was adopted at about four months old from the Children's Home Society to parents who already had three older kids, all boys.  Her adoptive parents divorced when she was three, but co-parented as best they could.  She had a lifelong interest in her cre...

In 1954, Jan was born in a Quaker unwed mother's home. She was relinquished at birth, and her adoptive parents and brother became her world. When Jan turned 38, she was inundated with what she calls "nudges" to locate birth mother. Meeting her birth mother and biological family led to a complex and incredible balancing act because both adoptive and biological families lived in the same c...

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide and mental health struggles; if you or someone you know needs help, please call/text 988 in the US and Canada. Neshia, short for Teneshia, is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was apprehended from her biological mother due to neglect and entered the child welfare system as a Crown ward in the late 1980s. After being adopted in the early 1990s, she w...

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide and mental health struggles; if you or someone you know needs help, please call/text 988 in the US and Canada. Kelly Jean Torres is an author, singer-songwriter, and trauma-informed storyteller whose work explores what it means to survive and heal. Raised in a web of foster care, domestic violence, addiction, and emotional neglect, Kelly grew up lear...

Jackie’s life and work are rooted in the profound belief that every individual deserves a "brave space" to show up authentically, fully, and without judgment. As the Executive Director of a Hospice Home and the founder of Lega-C Healing by Jackie, she dedicates her days to guiding others through life’s most delicate transitions with grace, intuition, and deep compassion. Her professional...