Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

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...

Amik is a foster care alum and adoptee. She is the author of “Healing Hurts Like Hell; A Survival Through Severe Childhood Trauma” . Her book is available on Amazon.com. Music by Corey Quinn

Alex Sloan (he/they), is a Transracial, Transgender and Nonbinary human, adopted from La Chorrera, Panama. He was adopted as an infant by a single white woman, who adopted another child from Panama 7 years prior, (who he later found out was his biological cousin through DNA testing). After his adoption was finalized at six months old, Alex was then moved overseas with his adoptive family to Okinaw...

Lilly Anspach is an artist, writer, and adoptee advocate whose work explores healing, identity, and truth-telling. She is the founder of Center to Shape , a creative healing initiative, and The Yuri Group , a leadership and organizational consulting practice. Through art, writing, and community engagement, Lilly examines the complexities of adoption, belonging, and personal transformation. She is...

After losing her son, to a devastating unnecessary adoption Renee Gelin discovered her purpose to help other mothers avoid unnecessarily separating from their newborns. Renee started speaking to other expectant mothers and realized that many of the reasons that they were considering adoption were similar to hers – temporary. She started explaining the lifelong trauma that maternal separation cause...

Sullivan Summer is an independent scholar, critic, essayist, poet, podcaster, and adoptee rights advocate. Her work across genres has been published in popular, literary, and academic outlets, and her pop culture hot takes and author interviews can be heard on the Adoption Pop! , Adoptees Off Script , and New Books Network podcasts. Her chapbook, Performance Anxiety , was published in 2025 by Blac...

Lora K. Joy/Lora Alegria is a returning guest. Lora is a domestic, same race adoptee who is fully estranged from her adoptive family and reunited with both maternal and paternal biological family. In 2022, she legally changed her name back to her birth name and Lora’s biological mom reclaimed her through an adult adoption. Lora has self-published 3 illustrated books and a blog at www.myadopteetrut...

Dr. Zoe Shaw is a licensed psychotherapist, author, speaker, podcast host, relationships coach and fitness lover. She is passionate about helping women who struggle in difficult relationships, especially that sometimes difficult relationship with themselves, overcome complex shame and co-dependency. After 15 years in traditional psychotherapy practice, Dr. Zoe jumped off the couch and now helps wo...

Dani Janae is a poet and journalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her work has been published by Longleaf Review, SWWIM, Palette Poetry, and others. Her debut collection of poetry, Hound Triptych, will be published by Sundress Publications in the Spring of 2026. She lives in South Carolina. When she is not writing she enjoys having intimate conversations with the things that puzzle and delight he...

Abbi Johnson is a natural mother who didn't get to raise her first child. She was sent to the Liberty GodParent Maternity Home in Lynchburg, VA in 2008 and at the age of 17 was coerced into relinquishing her son. In March of 2023 she created her IG and TikTok accounts @voicelessbirthmother to begin sharing her story. In 2025, Abbi collaborated with journalist T.J. Raphael on the investigative podc...

Haley Radke is a Canadian domestic adoptee, the founder of Haley Radke Media, Inc., and host of Adoptees On , one of the most successful and longest-running adoption-related podcasts in the world, with over 1.5 million downloads globally. Haley's commitment to centering adoptee stories has made her a sought-after expert within the field of adoption, and within the realm of podcast storytelling mor...

Steffe Harwood is a same race domestic adoptee, quilter, designer, artist, (unlicensed) architect, disc golfer, and backpacker (like camping). She likes to think that she is a renaissance woman, a woman of many talents. Steffe loves to make stuff. In her free time she does a lot of volunteer work with kids teaching them design and architecture, volunteering in the forest preserve, and with Disc Go...

Sara Kajder is a same race, domestic adoptee from a closed system who reached midlife before starting on the journey which has gifted her the opportunity to reunite with some members of her biological family. She is a writer and English professor who resides in Athens, GA. Music by Corey Quinn

Tammy Murphy is a returning guest. Tammy is a same race domestic Black adoptee. She has i mmersed herself in the adoption community and has become a content creator as a writer with a focus on adoption and healing . Tammy is a 3x volunteer for in person adoption community conferences and plans to start a coaching business next year. She recently became an adoption attuned certified coach through G...

Marisol Kassis is a transracial, transnational adoptee from Bogota, Colombia. She was adopted as an infant by her two parents and did not have any adoptive siblings. She grew up in a rural/suburban part of South New Jersey that was predominantly white . https://adoptee-voices.com Music by Corey Quinn