Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

Melissa Brunetti is a domestic adoptee from the baby scoop era and even though she had what she calls a 'good adoption with great adoptive parents' that doesn't mean she doesn't still have scars from her relinquishment. She says that she sees her healing journey as a gift that has shown her hidden treasures among the trauma. Melissa is the podcast host of Mind Your Own Karma The Adoption Chronicle...

Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard is a birth mother who has spent several years working in the adoption field—both as a paralegal on the West Coast and in adoption agencies in the Midwest and East Coast. Kelsey is the fourth generation in her family to relinquish a child for adoption and her whole life has been uniquely impacted by adoption as a result. She earned her undergraduate degree from South Dak...

Tara Griffith is an adoptee, adopted at the age of 13, through an open kinship adoption. She is a birth mother of almost 18 years in an open adoption. Tara is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Florida who has spent the last 14 years working in the field of adoptions. She opened a DCF licensed adoption home study agency in 2021 in hopes that she could better be able to educate adopt...

Sara Easterly is a returning guest. Sara is an award-winning author and essayist. Her latest book, Adoption Unfiltered (Rowman & Littlefield, Dec 2023), is a collaboration with birth parent Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard and adoptive parent Lori Holden. Her spiritual memoir, Searching for Mom, won a 2020 Illumination Book Award gold medal, among many others. Sara’s adoption-focused articles and e...

David Bynum is a returning guest. David was born and adopted at birth in Columbus, Oh. He began his search in 2018 and is currently in reunion with both sides of his biological family. He is a married father of three and grandfather of six. He is a U.S. Army Veteran and Retired Correctional Officer. David Recently retired from coaching High School Football at Reynoldsburg High School due to the Co...

Original Air Date: May 11, 2021 Barbara Robertson is affiliated with NAAP (National Association of Adoptees and Parents) and co-facilitates a virtual support group Adoption Network Cleveland once a month. She is a contributor to "Black Anthology: Adult Adoptees Claim Their Space" (The An-Ya Project) https://www.amazon.com/s?k=adult+adoptees+claim+their+space&crid=3MHVR2DDF70GC&sprefix=adul...

Angie Giles is an international adoptee, orphan, sister, daughter, wife, mother, friend and craft entrepreneur. In the beginning, the only thing she knew was her biological mother's name, Isabel Gamez. Angie was given up at 6 days old to the Rosa Virginia Peletier orphanage on June 22, 1978. She was given the name Rutilia De Los Angeles Gamez at birth. Angie was born in El Salvador, Central Americ...

Iris P. Bryant is a recent widow and mom of two young adults. She is passionate about helping women find purpose on the other side (or smack dab in the middle) of pain. She has served an online community at irispbryant.com for several years. She is also an adult adoptee and she created The Adoptees in Arms community to help adult adoptees find hope and peace in God’s word. In addition to these min...

Dr. Sara Docan-Morgan is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She earned her PhD from the University of Washington.  Her research has been published in Adoption Quarterly, the Journal of Family Communication, the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Communication Quarterly, Family Relations , and the Journal of Korean Adoption Studies , as wel...

Original Air Date: October 12, 2021 Ridghaus relinquished a son at 19 and then later, at the age of 35, learned that he had been relinquished and adopted. Ridghaus is the co-creator of the 6WAM (Six Word Adoption Memoir). He has spent the last 20 years teaching as a professor in English, Communication, Media, and Law from his graduate degrees in English (MA), Communication (MA), and Jurisprudence...

Original Air Date: November 23, 2021 Jean A. S. Strauss is an adoptee who located her birth family in 1988, a life-changing experience which she continues to learn from today, thirty-three years later. She is the author of five books (three about adoption search and reunion) and over 80 films, 55 of which are focused on the need for adoptee access to records. These works are all streamed onli...

Julie Ryan McGue is a returning guest. This episode is lovingly dedicated to Stephen McGue (Julie Ryan McGue's husband) who made his earthly transition on 02/12/22. Julie  is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. She explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong and making sense of it. She is the author of two books: Twice a Daughter: A Search for I...

Sariah Baker is a Chinese American adopted by a White American Mormon family. She recently left the Mormon faith to find herself and her birth family. She believes in having your "backpack of truths". Music by Corey Quinn

Kate Murphy, LCSW is a returning guest. We discuss when making a difficult decision can ultimately serve to self-care and honor oneself. Kate is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a psychotherapy practice in Atlanta, GA. She specializes in working with members of the adoption constellation with a focus on adoptees. She knows that processing the loss and grief caused by relinquishment...

Michelle Madrid  is the author of  Let Us Be Greater :   A Gentle, Guided Path to Healing for Adoptees   and host of the  Electricity of You  Podcast .  She is an international adoptee, former foster child in the UK, and an adoptee empowerment life coach who has been recognized as an Angels in Adoption® Honoree by the Congressional Coalition on Ado...

Sandria Washington asks the question: How did I go from writing my first short story in crayon to living inside the biggest plot twist of my life (and trust me, God has written me into some BIG ones these first 40 years of life)? ⁣ She knew from an early age that books, words and stories would always be her saving grace. She remembered when her parents separated and the lights got turned off and h...

This episode is lovingly dedicated to Jane . Lorraine Dusky is an award-winning journalist, editor and author who prefers to write stories that will make a difference. Her controversial memoir, BIRTHMARK, published in 1979, was the first from a mother to write about the grief of giving up a child to adoption.  Lorraine soon became a lightning rod for controversies surrounding adoption. An adv...

Constance Nicole Frierson grew up on the Southside of Chicago after spending the first 5 years of her life in Mobile, Alabama with her grandmother. She was born into a legacy of secrets and has fought to heal her heart and be an agent of truth, change, and art for her children, grandchildren, and community. Throughout her employment history, human services have been at the core. Some of the indust...

Sara J. Streeter (Hea Sook Han) is a transracially adopted Korean-American, writer, and biological mother. Discover more of her work at her website sarajstreeter.com . Adopted daughter. Biological daughter. Youngest of six Korean sisters. Only half sister to three American sisters. She writes both creative nonfiction and fiction about grief, adoption, motherhood, and race, and hopes to raise aware...

Susan Ito began reading at the age of three, and writing stories at the age six. She co-edited the literary anthology  A Ghost At Heart’s Edge: Stories & Poems of Adoption . Her work has appeared in  The Writer, Growing Up Asian American, Choice, Hip Mama, Literary Mama, Catapult, Hyphen,The Bellevue Literary Review , and elsewhere. She is a MacDowell colony Fello...

Lori Holden , a veteran in the adoption space,   writes at LavenderLuz.com and hosts the podcast  Adoption: The Long View . She’s the author of The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption  (recommended by  People  magazine, of all things!), which is featured on adoption agency required-reading lists across the country. She has keynoted and presented at adoption conferences aroun...

This episode is dedicated in loving memory to Thais America Guirigay Aparicio de Sanguinetti. Thais made her earthly transition after this recording on Friday October 6, 2023. Sophie P. Jupillat Posey was born in Venezuela, adopted by French parents, residing in the United States from three to 28 years of age and now currently residing in France. Sophie’s life has been as complex and rich as her h...

Kristin Jones is a mental health therapist with a private practice in Utah. Her personal experience as a domestic adoptee has given her valuable insight into the complexities of identity, self-discovery, and carrying the wounds of deep trauma. Her passion lies in facilitating change and growth, empowering individuals to overcome their obstacles and live fulfilling lives. Kristin is an avid reader...

Sheala Durant is a writer, journalist and a working mom who was born in western Michigan in the late 1960s. She adopted into her family at a young age. Sheala launched a search for her biological parents at the age of 15 with a visit to Grand Rapids. Afterwards, at age 18 she asked Bethany (Christian) Services, her adoption agency, for non-identifying information. She learned she was abandoned in...

Michelle M. Hinton was born to a 17-year-old, at 8 weeks premature, and relinquished to social services. Her adoption court documents state that she was born out of wedlock, illegitimate, and her only name was “baby girl”. She's never seen her original birth certificate. After birth, Michelle remained in an incubator, in the NICU for 2 months. No kangaroo care, no biological recall, smell, feel; a...