Who Am I Really?

Angie, from Southern Maryland. Growing up, Angie was frequently defined by her skin tone, as her relationship to her adoptive parents was questioned. Her contrast against her schoolmates and surrounding community made her stand out. When Angie found her birth mother, she was welcomed home—even by the woman responsible for her placement. But her paternal reunion was marked by an unremarkable connec...

 Donna, from New Jersey, grew up questioning the origins of her looks. In college the uniqueness of her appearance sparked curiosity. Donna spent years with no way to locate her birth family until DNA testing presented links to her maternal and paternal families simultaneously. While it was tough to find graves on her search, Donna takes fulfillment from the acceptance she's gained and the fosteri...

Rosalyn spoke to me from the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. As a teenager, she learned the truth about her adoption at her adoptive mother’s funeral—a discovery that was revealed harshly and without warning. In reunion, Rosalyn said she found peace in the mirroring she saw with her first mother and her paternal family connections. But she refused to remain an unacknowledged secret with her birth fath...

Dr. Liz Debetta spoke to me from Plymouth, Michigan. Growing up, adoption was an open topic until her younger brother's birth changed the family's focus. A series of bad relationships and feeling lost in life led Liz back to school where she rediscovered writing and the award-winning adoption story she's always had inside. In reunion, Liz found the first mother whom she always knew wanted to know...

David, and his birth mother Margaret's story of adoption relinquishment, lives lived apart but close to one another, and their brief emotional reunion is told in the book, "American Baby", written by New York Times Best Selling Author, Gabrielle Glaser.  Gabrielle first met David while he was on kidney dialysis awaiting a transplant where he shared that he hoped he would find his birth m...

DL called me from Manhattan, New York. He talks about his youth in a home with a mother addicted to prescription medications who probably wasn’t fit to adopt. When he moved out at 18, he followed his natural talent to climb his way into the music industry. However his suspicion that his birth mother was alive, contrary to what he was told, never left him.  I...

Lisa Marie chatted with me via Skype from Lake Garda in the North of Italy. In her journey you'll hear the impact of a transracial adoptee who grew up in a homogenous world that didn't look like herself, and the serendipitous meeting that allowed Lisa to free herself from part of her past.  Even though she lived a world away, technology allowed her to find her birth mother and spend the entir...

Isaac, from Hawaii, talks about himself as a boy who was loved, but struggled to connect with his adoptive parents in certain ways. Having left the island, a chance musical gig put him back on Hawaiian soil and in position to launch his adoption reunion search. In reunion he reconnected with both of his parents at the same time, elected to move back to Hawaii to reconnect with...

Tracey called me from Nashville, TN. She was raised in a family with a genetic trait that deeply impacted her middle sister, driving her appreciation for the power of genetic testing. Tracey knows a lot about her birth mother even though the woman rejected her twice. Process of elimination led her to her birth father, several loving siblings, and healing from the heartache...

Kristen, from Minnesota, was a multi-sport athlete in high school, even competing while pregnant with her daughter. She tells the story of giving birth, placing her daughter, then needing years to get her life back on track. In one incredible year, Kristen learned that her birth parents were looking for her, her daughter wanted to find her and that reunion can bring closure and healing while revea...

For Shelby, growing up as a Korean adoptee left her feeling “othered” as she didn’t quite fit into her community. The Korean school her parents tried to raise her in wouldn’t accept her either. She was forced to live in between her culture and what Americans would or would not let her be. On a heritage trip to South Korea she experienced the heavy emotions of reunion with...

 Sean from, Fishers, Indiana, grew up the only person of color in his entire rural town. Yet his ethnicity was hidden from him by his adoptive mother. In Reunion, Sean finally met his birth mother, but realized he needed to establish a special boundary with her to protect his adopted children. Lacking mirroring all his life, Sean finally heard one of his paternal relatives say, he looks just like...

Santo, from Redding, PA, grew up knowing he was adopted, and that his family could have also adopted his siblings from Italy. As an adult, when a friend's wedding took him to Spain, he arrived early to make the long drive across Europe to northern Italy to be face to face with his birth mother.  Santo and his team made a documentary about his life is called Il Mio Posto a Tavola, or My Place at th...

Jeff, from southern California,   grew up with the knowledge of and separation anxiety about his adoption. In reunion, he found his birth mother who mirrored his looks, but who has pushed the boundaries of their relationship, and a birth father who is simply not his type of guy. Jeff is the inspirational photographer behind the adoptee focused innocent People Project. This is Jeff's journey. Jeff...

 Julie from Chicago, Illinois is rare in the world of adoption because she wasn't adopted alone. She and her identical twin sister were placed together, secure in their sense of family. The twins never sought adoption reunion until health concerns emerged for Julie in adulthood. Julie describes the initial rejection of her first mother, the misidentification of her birth father, and the eventual s...

Melissa, who called me from Harrison, Arkansas, says she always felt chosen and grateful for her adoption. But after decades of peace with her origin story, something shifted. A small-town newspaper article, a newborn daughter, and an aging parent all conspired to push her toward a search. When the time was finally right—when a DNA match opened the door to her paternal family—she stepped forward i...

Ryan, from Edinburgh, Scotland, grew up ashamed of his Moroccan heritage and faced bullying due to his background and religion. At 18, a letter from his mother revealed his adoption, shaking his world and leading him to hide the truth for 13 years. Ryan struggled with depression, substance abuse, and a pervasive sense of otherness. Eventually Ryan confronted his adoption trauma, seeking therapy an...

Katie was adopted from China as a baby and raised in a predominantly white suburb south of Boston. Her adoptive family gave her a life full of opportunity—but as she grew older, the distance between who she was and the world around her only deepened. In this episode, Katie shares how her search for identity has expanded beyond finding her birth parents. She opens up about being raised without cult...

George grew up in Soviet Georgia knowing he was different—both visibly and emotionally—in a society where adoption and his sexuality were dangerous secrets. He spent his early life navigating fear, hiding truths, and surviving systems designed to silence him. When a search angel from Russia responded to a single Facebook post, everything changed. George embarked on a digital trail of late-night te...

 Forrest's life began in chaos, abuse, and danger at home and in the foster care system. Forest says he joined the military to make an honorable exit from this life and shares the moment he found his calling as a tattoo artist to his brothers in Iraq. But when Fort decided to get his passport, the process revealed that he had been adopted by a devious woman who had taken him in, but had never told...

 Raised in the mountains of the midwest, Misty endured neglect and abuse when she was a child. She took matters into her own hands to separate from her family, survived a period in foster care, then was adopted by her extended family. Misty, was forced to learn what life should be like in a properly functioning family while unlearning what she had experienced in her first family. Today Misty uses...

Dr. Amy Geller, from Wykoff New Jersey, had had an idyllic adopted life as the youngest child and the only girl in her family.  But an accidental discovery put her in front of her adoptive parents facing an uncomfortable situation and feelings she chose to bury. As a young adult, Amy was found by her birth mother, found herself angered by the intrusion, but had the presence of mind to pause to gat...

Tezita (te zi TA) called me from Sacramento, CA, but she tells a harrowing story that originates in Ethiopia. Tezita’s adopted family had many other international adoptees, but she was singled out for solitary confinement. She was sent back to her homeland where she thrived mentally in a boarding school away from her adopters. When she returned she witnessed more abuse and decided she’d...

Carrie called me from Lynchburg, Virginia. In her journey you’ll hear her talk about the moment she realized she was found, and how she was in contact with her birth parents at the same time one the same day. Carrie talks about two amazing reunions: one where she got to see her birth mother in competition, the other where she got to meet her maternal and paternal siblings together. ...

Diane called me from St. Petersburg, Florida, but her’s is a story that originated in Germany. Diane tells the story of her parents wanting to form a family with her, but her grandmother frequently talking about her adoption such that no one could ever move on. On a trip back to Germany, Diane stood in the orphanage where her story originated, but answers to her questions were not to be...