The Forgotten Adoption Option Podcast

Brian Murphy is both the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer and Shaneetra Gross serves as Chief Administrative Officer for Gift of Adoption Fund. Gift of Adoption provides adoption assistance grants to complete the adoptions of children in vulnerable circumstances. 

Michael, who resided in California, had a successful career as a technology manager within the banking industry. His dedication and insights continue to inspire those who knew him.

In this episode, you'll hear about the realities of foster care and human trafficking overlapping. Janet Craig wrote and directed Wake Up . She has experience as a foster mom and has a degree in theatre, was a professional tennis player, and is a veteran actress. What we can now stream and find on DVD and Blu-Ray is a result of over 7 years of work including filming during COVID. 

Alana shares her perspective of the story was shared by her adoptive mom Robin in Season 1 .

Allison Davis Maxon is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of child welfare and children’s mental health. She specializes in attachment, developmental trauma and permanency/adoption.  Allison co-authored "Seven Core Issues in Adoption and Permanency: A Guide to Promoting Understanding and Healing in Adoption, Foster Care, Kinship Families and Third Party Reproduction". She is the Executiv...

In 2013 Davion Only-Going warmed hearts around the world after standing before a Florida church congregation and asking for a family to adopt him. A few years later he was adopted. Today, he is a chef in the Tampa area.

Courtney is the host of FosterCon and she is the foster care recruitment manager for America's Kids Belong . She and her husband have fostered more than 60 children. She is the mother of 9 children - 6 through adoption.  FosterCon is a series of virtually delivered webinars featuring compelling content and nationally renowned advocates for foster care. The events are designed for people who wa...

Andrew Bridge is a children's right lawyer, author, and foster care alum. He helped establish National Adoption Day. His new book "The Child Catcher" recounts his first lawsuit as a young lawyer, fighting for children confined to one of the nation's most notorious institutions in rural Alabama. You can pre-order it now at AndrewBridgeAuthor.com. Proceeds from the book will go to CASA (Court-Appoin...

Rebekah Weigel is a foster/adoptive parent, child advocate and national ambassador for CarePortal (a technology the supports children and families interacting with the foster system). She has a passion to see the faith community care for vulnerable children and families. She is an award-winning filmmaker and works in the entertainment industry as a writer and producer. Rebekah and her husband Josh...

Jillana Goble is an advocate, author, and speaker as well as a mom and founder of Every Child. 

Lisa Schelbe is the associate dean of academic affairs and an associate professor at Florida State University College of Social Work and a faculty affiliate at the Florida Institute for Child Welfare. She is the Director of the Child Well-Being Research Network. Additionally, she serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. Her primary research interest focuses bro...

Crystal & Justin share what it's like to be a family that has adopted multiple children with unique, special needs.  Pages 5-9 in this document are an example of a list of behaviors, conditions and medical needs you might be asked to consider when adopting through foster care.

Jodi founded Second Mothers, a community for women who are foster mothers, adoptive mothers, and/or step mothers. 

Darrell Missey is the Director of Children's Division for the State of Missouri.

Dr. Wynter is a Foster Youth Voice Whisperer, Child Welfare Strategist & Systems Thinker. She and I met after I published my first book "The Forgotten Adoption Option". A few local readers had told me barriers they were facing as they tried to get licensed to adopt through foster care. Dr. Wynter took me under her wing and pointed me to some existing legislature that I was able to sh...

Justine Froelker is an educator who uses storytelling, humor, and passion to help individuals to rise from difficulty, cope with emotions, and move forward in a healthy, authentic way.

Christopher and Ashley adopted a young boy through foster care and then later decided they no longer felt called to accept more children into their home. 

Simon Benn resides in the United Kingdom and is the founder of Thriving Adoptees. He is an adoptee who helps other adoptees thrive. He also shows parents how to help their adopted children to thrive, too. He also shows parents how to help their adopted children to thrive, too. 

Anthony Donovan is the Associate Dean of Students & Director of Residence Life at my alma mater, Belmont University.

Meet Gary Schneider Founder & CEO - Every Orphan’s Hope and Vision Catalyst & Founder - Orphan Sunday. Learn more about Gary's work and explore opportunities for child sponsorship at: everyorphan.org . If you're interested in learning more about Zambia signing the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption, check out: travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/Intercountry-Adoption-Ne...

La' Toria Kern who serves as a foster parent for emergency situations in Las Vegas. She is also the founder and executive and artistic director as a nonprofit called  FAMILYArts @ WHALER's Creation . 

Angie Schaefer is the Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer at Safety National. Want to ask your employer to add or expand adoption benefits? Use the Adoption-Friendly Workplace Toolkit . Does your employer already have adoption benefits, invite them to participate in the Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces Survey .

Meet adoptive mom Kathy Searle. Kathy is also the vice president of Utah programs for Raise the Future.

Andrea Sanders has been the Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services since November 2020. She says, "Every day I throw on my CAPE ([which is an acronym for her] core values of Compassion, Accountability, Professionalism, and Excellence) and I challenge my staff to do the same. Our work is too important to not give it our all each and every day. It is truly a new day...

Meet Matthew Wollack, Vice President of Strategic Development at Wolverine Human Services and President & CEO of eNoble.