The Adoption Files

The host does a bit of ranting about the many reasons given for denying adoptees access to our documents, including the rationale that adoption is not a trauma, and biology can be transgressed.

Mary Constance is an adoptee from Ohio. Mary is preparing to walk across America to bring attention to the inequity faced by adoptees in seeking access to our original birth certificates.  Mentioned in the show: Ohio adoptee access to records: https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odh/know-our-programs/vital-statistics/Adoption-File-Information/Adoption-File-Information The Chosen Baby: a...

The host talks about her adoptive parents plans to run away with her, if her family had attempted to reclaim her.

Margaret is an adoptee from Ontario, Canada. Margaret is a kinship adoptee, who did not discover until she was older that her adoptive family is her family.  She is the author of two books:  Adoption: The Truth Comes Out, and Overwhelmed by God's Grace, Uncovering the Truth about Adoption.  Margaret has a podcast: Maggie Closet Chats, on Spotify Mentioned in the podcast: Ontario, Ca...

What can we do when we listen to a podcast and feel triggered by what we encounter?

The Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights was founded by Jamie Weiss and Courtney Humbaugh to advocate for the rights of all Georgia adoptees to unrestricted access to their original birth documents.  Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights can be found at: Gaallianceforadopteerights.org* Info@gaallianceforadopteerights.org FB.com/gaadopteerights Instagram.com/gaadopteerights Mentioned in the show...

Please join me as I speak with Jamie Weiss; professional photographer, writer and adoptee rights activist. She is one of the co-founders of the Georgia Alliance for Adoptee Rights. Jamie Weiss was born in Virginia, but adopted in the state of Georgia.  Jamie can be found at: signedsealedadopted.com signedsealedadopted@gmail.com fb.com/signedsealedadopted instagram.com/signedsealedadopted Ment...

Please join me as I speak with Emma Stevens, domestic adoptee and author of the newly released memoir, The Gathering Place.  Emma's book can be found on Amazon, including on Audible, where Emma narrates her book.  Emma is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth. She has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount t...

Daryn Watson was born and adopted in Alberta, Canada. Daryn is an Adoption Reunion Coach and also writes a blog, The Adoptee Mind. He has been a guest on Jennifer Dyan Ghostons podcast Once Upon a Time in Adopteeland, and on Julie Jackson and Richard Castles podcast Cut-off Genes.  Daryn can be found at Adoption Reunion Coaching on Facebook, and on his blog, The Adoptee Mind (also on FB)...

Anne is an adoptee from Nebraska. She is currently at work writing a fiction-ish novel that treats adoptees from an adoption-informed perspective. She is also participating in an anthology related to her membership in the group Flourish, headed by Pam Cordano and Anne Heffron.  Mentioned in the show: Adoptee Chameleon: adoptees are sometimes described as chameleons, given we often learn to co...

Kirsten Weatherford was born and adopted in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has some very odd eligibility requirements for adoptees seeking access to their documents. Join me as Kirsten and I talk about these requirements, her personal journey in requesting her adoption file, and her efforts to be present for young adoptees.  Kirsten is the author of the book Finding My Way Home. She was a guest o...

Please join me as I talk with Deborah Yemm, author of the blog Missing Mom. Deborah is the child of adoptees, who sought to honor her parents and find her own history by applying for documents from the states of Tennessee and Texas. Deborahs story: Mentioned in the podcast: Tennessee Childrens' Home Society: an orphanage that existed in the state of Tennessee during the first half of the twentieth...

Jamie Nagy is an Illinois adoptee. Jamie lives in Ohio, with her husband and their two dogs. Jamie has a Masters degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Nonfiction. You can read some of Jamies' work at adoptiontriaddance.wordpress.com, and by going to openprairie.sdstate.edu Composing a Literary Adoption Memoir and Self Through Creative Nonfiction Memoir Writing (sdstate.edu) Mentioned...

Please join me as I speak with Oregon adoptee Christine Dechert. Christine participated in the advocacy movement that resulted in Oregon becoming one of only ten states in the US to have truly unrestricted access for adoptees to their original birth certificates. Christines family history is complex, as her mother was also adopted. While Oregons laws now allow adoptees to receive OBCs, the st...

Please join me as I speak with Dr. Abby Hasberry, a transracial Maryland adoptee from a closed adoption. Dr Hasberry has a BS in African American Studies and Sociology, her MA in teaching K-12, and her PhD in curriculum and instruction. She is currently studying for her MEd to become a licensed marriage and family therapist specifically to address the lack of African-Amderican, adoption-exper...

Samantha is the daughter of Canadian parents. Her mother traveled to the United Kingdom to give birth, where Samantha was adopted by an American woman and her English husband. Listen as we talk about what requesting adoption documents is like in the UK, especially compared to requesting the same documents in the United States.  Samantha is an artist and academic coach/dyslexia specialist. She...

Hi! Welcome to another episode of The Adoption Files. Please join me as I talk with Lisa Ann about the challenges of being adopted in Iowa and seeking your documents. We discuss how so many of us must become detectives, utilizing DNA tests, learning to decipher the meaning of centimorgans and the perils of making contact with matches.   Lisa Ann is a closed adoption adoptee from the Baby...

Please join me as I discuss adoption and the closed state of Georgia with adoptee Courtney Humbaugh. Courtney was born on Christmas day in Augusta, Georgia and adopted five months later to a family in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2010 she began her journey to discover her roots and her birth story. In 2020, she petitioned the court system in Georgia for her adoption records.  Ms. Humbaugh works in th...

Please join author and blogger Elle Cuardaigh and I for a bonus birthday episode! Elle is the author of the book The Tangled Red Thread, and participated in the adoptee anthology The Adoptee Survival Guide. She can be found at ellecuardaigh.com, where she blogs about adoption and her adoptee reality.  We discuss a WTF moment; one that far too many adoptees face.  Elle shares a wonde...

Lora K Joy is the author of two illustrated books: NoBody Looks Like Me: An Adoptee Experience, and Goodbye Hypervigilance: Healing Adoptee Worries. She can also be found on her blog My Adoptee Truth, and @adopteelorakjoy on Instagram. Lora was featured on episode 185 of Haley Radke's podcast Adoptees On.  Lora was born and raised in Indiana. Please join as as Lora explains the Four Things th...

Today I talk with Author and blogger Elle Cuardaigh. Please join us as Elle Cuardaigh and I visit dark places, discuss documents and enjoy talking each others ears off. Elle is the only person I know with crashing a funeral in her biography!  Elle can be found at ellecuardaigh.com, where she blogs about her reality as an adopted person. She is the author of The Tanlged Red Thread, and partici...

Becky is a fellow Baby Scoop Era adoptee. Born in the state of Ohio, Becky is the Queen of Persistence. Please join us as we discuss her over THIRTY year pursuit of her documents and her identity; plus, antique tractors.  Becky Conrad Drinnen is co-facilitator for Adoption Network Clevelands DNA Discoveries support group. She has written articles tor two adoption anthologies, Adoption in the...

Please join Lorah Gerald and I as we talk about requesting adoptee records from the state of Tennessee, and the threat of felony charges associated with attempts to connect with family.  Lorah is an adoptee, a writer, Kundalini Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master and ordained minister. Lorah can be found at LorahGerald.com, and as the @theadoptedchameleon on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Pinteres...

Jude Conn is from the greater Charlotte, North Carolina area. She is a certified professional massage therapist and Reiki Master as well as a contemporary spiritual teacher and holistic life coach. She is also a Closed, Private, Stranger Adoption at two days old. Jude was adopted in the state of Virginia.  Please join me and Jude as we discuss the barriers that exist in procuring adoptee reco...

Michelle Madden is a fellow Baby Scoop era adoptee. She is also a mom, a Reading Specialist who has been working as a Special Education teacher for many years, and a marvelous person. Join us as we talk about the crucial nature of medical histories, and the difficulties of navigating not just one, but two countries bureaucracies in her search for answers.  Baby Scoop Era: The Baby Scoop Era w...