The Adoption Files

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...

Julie Ryan McGue is the author of  the award winning memoir Twice a Daugher; a Search for Identity, Family and Belonging. To say her book is well-written does not convey how beautifully Julie communicates her journey as she navigates the complex emotional interactions involved in obtaining answers for herself and her twin sister.  Julie Ryan Mcgue can be found on Facebook @juliemcguewrit...

For my dear friend, Jean. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/2021/10/30/adoptee-remembrance-day-2/

I wrote this in memory of my adoptive, adopted little brother, who I miss every day. Like me, he was not told as a child that we were adopted. I miss him every day. This episode is also available as a blog post: https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/2021/10/29/adoptee-remembrance-day/

TThis was written as a kind of companiion piece to my interview with Andrea Steiner Coates. I hope you will take a moment to listen. Thank you! this episode is also available as a blog post: https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/2021/10/28/total-strangers/

Welcome to the Adoption Files Podcast! Today my guest is Andrea Steiner Coates. Andrea is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, a DNA Search Angel, and a lovely person who is a staunch Adoptee Advocate. Andrea was instrumental in my search for my paternal family. Today we talk about what a search angel is, how they differ from an intermediary, and what kinds of resources exist to assist people in the...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/2021/07/25/social-worker-interviews/ Many people are unaware that not all adopted people have access to their original adoption files. As a person adopted from the United Kingdom, I have access. What I found in my files has caused me to have serious questions about adoption practices. This is a quick listen fr...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/2021/06/22/compelling-evidence/  The requirement that an adopted person present themselves in court in order to convince a stranger that they have a right to something as basic as our medical records is, in my opinion, a violation of our human rights. Too often, adoptees are put through this dehumaninzing...

This episode is also available as a blog post: https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/2021/10/21/disclosure-vetoes/  Disclosure vetoes and Redaction clauses are just one more way that our culture fails adopted people. This is a short take on my personal opinion on the topic. Listen to my interviews with Lynn Grubb and Paige L Adams Strickland for more insight into how these laws impact ado...

Please join me as I interview Paige Strickland, author of Akin to the Truth: a Memoir of Adoption and Identity, and After the Truth, a Memoir. Paige also participated in the anthology The Adoptee Survival Guide, edited by Lynn Grubb. Paige was born and adopted in the state of Ohio. She shares about discovering her right to request her documents via a television program, the benefits of high school...

i had the pleasure of interviewing Lynn Grubb, also known as the Adopted Zgenealogist on Facebook and Instagram. Lynn and I talked about adoption documents and the incredible impact acces to DNA testing has had on adopted's search for our identities. We hope you will join us for the conversation!