Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

Susan Devan Harness is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and author of Mixing Cultural Identities Through Transracial Adoption , and multiple award-winning Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption,  as well as an American Indian transracial adoptee.  She has been interviewed for numerous podcasts, on public radio, and appeared on the TEDxMileHigh Stage ta...

Dr. Patrice Martin is a same race adoptee who lives in Nashville, TN with her family. In her profession she works in grants management in the nonprofit and forprofit sectors. She has always known she was adopted. She grew up in Pittsburgh, PA with a loving family. As life would have it she has had some twists and turns to her story. At about age 27 it was revealed to her that not only wa...

Alieshaia is a 29 year old transracial adoptee from Upstate NY and currently lives in Memphis, Tennessee. She has recently begun her career as a school based occupational therapist. During her free time, she enjoys reading, visiting bookstores, playing video games, watching movies, sharing food and laughter with her friends and traveling with her boyfriend.  Alieshaia was in foster care as an...

Lena Skahill received her Master’s degree in Sociology in 2012 from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She is an adjunct professor of Sociology and Women’s and Ethic Studies at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She created her departments first courses in Adoption and Family Studies now available...

Corissa Saint Laurent is an inspirational speaker, podcast host, and soul guide on a quest to create greater meaning, higher purpose, and true joy for herself and others. She shares her experiences and expertise as a healer and teacher of deep soul knowledge through inspiring events and classes, and broadcasting and publishing. Currently, Corissa is the VP of Marketing and Business Development for...

Eight adoptee writers who are guests from previous episodes share their wonderful pieces/essays to inspire and uplift the adoption constellation. Barbara Robertson from Season 1, episode 9 Daryn Watson from Season 3, episode 43 Cynthia from Season 1, episode 7 Nancy McCaughey from Season 2, episode 22. Danielle Orr from Season 5, episode 79 Carmen Hinkley from Season 1, episode 15 Lorah Gerald fro...

Patrick Hawes was born in Asheville NC in August 1970.  He was officially adopted at 6 weeks old, but from birth was separated from his birth mother.  Patrick’s adoptive mother was Japanese and his adoptive father was American, so was raised in a bi-racial family, but in reverse since he is  Caucasian. Sadly, his adoptive father passed away when he was 4 years old. It was no secret...

Rob Reese was born in Busan, South Korea, but was adopted to a family in Denver, Colorado. His parents were so supportive of him being in extracurricular activities, like getting his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and earning Eagle Scout. Rob attended Metropolitan State University of Denver and earned a B.A. in International Business. He has the ambition of becoming a business analyst and is currently...

Ken R. DeStefano is a domestic adoptee that was born in the late 1960’s and raised in a caring and loving Italian home.  As an adoptee, he had a largely happy life, but always wondered about the unknown. That curiosity led to a search for his own birth mother and a recent reunification with her.  It also led him to seek a deeper understanding of his own journey and that of his birth...

Brad Ewell an LDA late discovery adoptee, a husband, father, writer, and  a police officer of 26 years.  He made his adoption discovery in 2019 at 48 years old. Since that time he had his writing published in severancemag.com , told his story at a Moth main stage, been interviewed in several podcasts, and has a monthly column at http://www.lavendErluz.com/   Brad is in reu...

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 extensive training, both nationall...

Dr. Liz DeBetta is an adoptee and interdisciplinary scholar-artist-activist whose work is grounded in creativity and social justice. Using storytelling and narrative techniques Liz invites others to create space for empathy and begin healing individual and collective trauma connected to race, gender, sexuality, disability, ethnicity, and other intersections of identity that are misunderstood or mi...

Danielle Gaudette is a Body & Brain coach and author of Healing Tree: An Adoptee’s Story About Hurting, Healing and Letting the Light Shine Through.   After her reunion with her birth mother twenty-four years ago, she began an energy practice to process the unraveling of her primal wound. She is now a 20-year senior trainer and seeks to share those healing principles and practices to help...

Today’s guest is Jonathan, a 58 year old adoptee living the suburban dream in a coastal town south of Boston, MA. He was born in November of  1964  in Albany, NY and grew up about an hour south of Albany. He moved to Boston for college in 1982, where he met his wife during his senior year. They married in  October 1988  and have lived with a varying constellation of cats and do...

Beth Syverson is an adoptive mom of a vibrant and intuitive 19-year-old son Joey, who has been struggling to find his healing path. They created the Unraveling Adoption podcast together in 2021 in order to help other families learn from the challenges they've experienced. Beth is also the facilitator of APtitude: A Support Group for Adoptive Parents Facing Adoption’s Challenges, providing resource...

Jack Rocco M.D. has more than thirty years as a practicing orthopedic surgeon. His work has taken him to many countries and cultures, including to Japan, where he served in the U.S. Air Force, and to Madagascar, where, through a nonprofit organization he established, he treated children suffering primarily from clubfoot. He has served on the board at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia....

Chris Thomason just graduated from the University of California Los Angeles a few years ago and is currently a case worker in social work working with migrants going through citizenship as a translator. Chris was relinquished at birth, adopted at 4 years old, relinquished again 10 months later when the adopted father died suddenly. By the time he reached 11 years old I had been moved 5 times. Neve...

Rebecca Autumn Sansom is guided by the promise of a consciously evolving humanity. As a filmmaker, she was invited by Oregon's Congressman Blumenauer to screen her feature documentary about high-speed rail, Trainsforming America, at the Capitol in DC. She won a 2015 Midsouth regional Emmy for her work on Tout Your Town , a travel series produced by Genuine Human Productions, Nashville TN.  As...

Fred Nicora has followed a path of unexplained restlessness ignited by undisclosed triggers in his efforts to find the right fit for his own identity and seek truth in his life. Careers explored on his journey include health care administration, architecture, business consulting, teaching, and his own entrepreneurial endeavors including a startup fitness-based company and now authoring his story o...

Erin Cosentino discovered she is an NPE in 2017, while trying to find out the truth about her grandfather's biological parents. In the last five years she has become an advocate for Adoptees, Donor Conceived folks, Late Discovery Adoptees and NPEs. Erin is a high school special educator, currently pursuing a Master's in Social Work. She lives at the beautiful Jersey Shore with her h...

Annie Persico was born and raised in the Bronx, New York and along with serving on the board of Hiraeth Hope and Healing, she has been a legal assistant for more than 35 years, currently working for a large New York City law firm for nearly 20 years. She has been married to her wife since 2004 and they currently have a dog, a blind cat and 7 tropical birds. Annie enjoys playing video gam...

Cindy McQuay co-founded Hiraeth, Hope and Healing https://www.hiraethhopeandhealing.com/?fbclid=IwAR1mKu4WhmEl8U7Vcy5r_Pd_Qqa7drS1AtU_Usl6QaN6Tvdg0Z_Vjef75CQ Cindy was adopted at 3 months and has always known. She always had the desire to know her story and identity Her adoptive parents fully supported her. Cindy trying to get her records and original birth certificate, at the legally allowed age...

Music by Corey Quinn

Laura L. Engel likes to say she is late to the game as a budding new author. Originally from Biloxi, Mississippi, Laura has lived in Southern California for over 50 years. She and her husband, Gene are the proud parents of six grown children along with their significant others. They are delighted to be Grammy and PaPa to ten grandchildren. Recently retired after 30 plus years as a regional sales r...

During times in this episode, there is sensitive content that may be traumatizing to some audiences. Listener discretion advised. Adele Rodriguez was born in China, first adopted to America and later moved to France. She states, "Being an adoptee not only makes me standout, but it makes me, me. Living in an orphanage wasn’t all that bad, because it was my first home. I didn’t have anything th...