Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

Heather Schultz Gittens (she/her) is a transracial adoptee who grew up on Long Island, NY. She was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted at four months old in 1984. At age 30, she visited her birth country, reconnected with her Korean roots, and searched for her birth mother in 2014. When she returned from this first motherland trip, she became involved with the adoptee community in New York City...

Emma Stevens is a returning guest. Emma is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth and has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount the many struggles she faced. Her traumas were born from being an adoptee who struggled with being forced to wear an impossible mask of playing the part of the “good adopted child.” Because b...

Catie Samantha Peck is a domestic, same - race adoptee raised in a closed adoption by an adoptive mother who was also adopted. Her name at birth was Samantha Claire and was changed at the time of her adoption to Catherine Anne. She prefers to go by Catie Samantha. At the age of 37, she searched and entered a very positive reunion with her maternal and paternal biological family. She learned t...

Amy Hansen is a domestic adoptee, born in 1969. She was placed for adoption at birth. She grew up in a loving family and was well cared for. Amy was the "happy" adoptee, so grateful to her birth parents, her adopted parents and always trying to make everyone happy. She has been in reunion with some of her birth family for the past 5 years and has recently come out of the F...

Hannah Andrews is a U.S. domestic adoptee, born in Chicago during the Baby Scoop Era, raised on a farm in central Illinois. After semi-retiring she moved to San Diego and started writing again ( a lifelong love) but, definitely not about adoption. Hannah mostly ignored all things adoption until 2018 when she met a birthmother and author at a Writers Conference in San Diego. Everything changed in t...

Talitha A. Abell is a same race domestic adoptee born in California in 1976. She always knew she was adopted and had what she considers a positive childhood, Still she says she wondered about her beginning story and so she was always looking off and on to find her birth mom. In 2020, she was introduced to the adoptee community through a podcast which has helped to add language and g...

Jessica M. Luciere is a transracial adoptee born in Bogota, Colombia who grew up on Long Island, New York. She is an Adoptee Advocate, working to create supportive spaces for adoptees and their families around the world. Currently the Manager of Community Engagements at Spence-Chapin, Jessica is also the facilitator of the Mentorship Programs, which have been in existence since 2005. Jessica is th...

Ed Knight graduated George Washington University with a B.A. in Journalism.  (his late adoptive father studied law there.) He worked at The Washington Post for many years in the Circulation and I.T. Departments, starting as a clerk, and ending up as a database administrator. Ed took an early retirement after finding his biological family and needing time to, “find myself”. In Reunion with bio...

Valerie Naiman (pronounced naymen) is an adoptee, author, story-song writer, passionate singer, re-purposer, goat mama, apiarist, gardener, environmental activist, and eco-village founder living in Asheville, NC. As you’ll discover in her soon to be release book, she’s a secret to her natural family.  Her personal journey throughout six decades delves into life’s biggest mysteries a...

Greg Gentry is a domestic baby scoop era adoptee, born in California in 1969. He has been in reunion with maternal family members since 2006, and in 2021 also connected with his paternal side. Greg is a facilitator and interviewer for Fireside Adoptees, a private Facebook group founded in 2021, which is committed to additional outreach through its public Facebook page and through the Fireside Adop...

Brian Stanton is a Los Angeles-based stage actor. He's currently starred in a new play titled Final Interview in Los Angeles and will immediately move on to star in Plaza Suite by Neil Simon in February in Mammoth Lakes, CA. In the world of adoption, Stanton is most known for his original solo play BLANK, the true story of his adoption and search for identity. BLANK's Hollywood premiere catapulted...

Lora K. Joy is an adult adoptee. She is a closed, same race, domestic adoptee. She has self-published 3 illustrated books about her healing journey. This past year, she legally changed her first name back to her birth name and was legally reclaimed by her biological mother. Lora has been in reunion with her maternal side since 2008. After facing secondary rejection from her biological father, she...

Isaac Etter is an activist and social entrepreneur. He was transracially adopted at the age of two. He is the founder of Identity, a startup focused on using technology to help foster and adoptive families thrive. Isaac has worked in adoption through his consulting firm  Etter Consulting  for the past 5 years. At Etter Consulting, Isaac led trainings for families and adoption agencies on...

Simon Benn was adopted at 5 weeks old and told about it so young he doesn't ever remember not knowing. He didn't experience any adoption trauma until he hit 40 when he found out his childhood teddy bear was a gift from his birth mother. This caused an eruption of anger, feeling rejected and unloved. That kickstarted a learning journey that led him to heal and then want to help others. He created t...

Music by Corey Quinn

Dan Smith is an adoptee in reunion who co-facilitates a support group with Adoption Network Cleveland for all members of the constellation. It meets the last Thursday of each month online. He resides in Ohio and enjoys his retirement after a career as a firefighter. Music by Corey Quinn

Tina is a returning guest. She is a published poet who shares her wisdom from her lived experience. Recommended resources: Damon Davis podcast host, https://www.whoamireallypodcast.com/ "Born in June Raised in April" hosted by April Dinwoodie https://aprildinwoodie.com/the-podcast National Adoptees And Parents (NAAP) https://www.facebook.com/NAAPUnited Untangling Our Roots Summit http://www.untang...

Poet: Dr. Maya Angelou; "Still I Rise" (read by Nomi), "Phenomenal Woman" and "Call Letters: Mrs V.B." (read by Jennifer Dyan Ghoston) Poets: Langston Hughes; "Dreams" and Nayirah Waheed; "The Becoming" (read by Nomi) Unknown author (read by JR Calhoun) Poets: Ralph Waldo Emerson; "Write it on your heart" and Rudyard Kipling; "If" (read by Jennifer Dyan Ghoston) Music by Corey Quinn and Invitation...

During times in this episode, there is sensitive content that may be traumatizing to some audiences. Listener discretion advised. Akara is a domestic, baby scoop era, closed adoption, late discovery adopted person. She is estranged from her adoptive family and unacknowledged by her birth family. She is a writer to help her navigate the multi layered trauma of relinquishment. Akara is a board membe...

Sandi Smith is a domestic, same-race adoptee moved across the country illegally at the age of 5 weeks.  She’s been in reunion with her maternal siblings for 27 years.  She’s been an only child, an oldest child, a youngest child, and recently found out she is once again an only child!  She has 5 older biological siblings and one younger adopted sister, along with a wonderful spouse,...

Erika Hayasaki is an award winning journalist. In 2016, Hayasaki learned about Isabella and Hà, identical twins who were born in Việt Nam, raised on opposite sides of the world, and reunited as teenagers. Over a period of five years, Hayasaki, a professor in the Literary Journalism Department at the University of California, Irvine, spent hundreds...

Mary Ellen Gambutti is the published author of "I Must Have Wandered: An Adopted Air Force Daughter Recalls". It is a hybrid of lyrical prose, letters, and photos of a woman relinquished at birth in post-World War11 South Carolina. She reflects on the separations of her transient adoptive military family in the idyllic 1950s into the troubled and turbulent '60s. Mary Ellen defines and defies the b...

Anita Garber- Author and Poet Anita is a passionate, creative, transracial adoptee. Adopted with her identical twin sister, she grew up on a chicken farm with five siblings and considers her faith and family to be most important to her. She has a bachelor's degree in Social Work and is presently pursuing her Master's degree in Social work and a Certificate in Expressive Arts. When she isn't e...

Ryan Anderson was born in Morocco, a country in Africa and brought up in Edinburgh, Scotland where he currently resides. He is a Transracial, Transnational Foundling and an LDA (Late Discovery Adoptee). Ryan traveled the world for a decade in an attempt to escape the challenges of being an adopted person. He is passionate about raising the awareness about mental health by sharing his lived experie...

Maya Holmes was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She grew up with an older brother who was also adopted. Maya studied psychology in college and I currently works as procurement specialist. On the weekends, she takes a ceramics class. Maya has always enjoyed art, just never pursued it full time. She's single with no kids or pets. It’s just her! Maya is working on writing her story and hope t...