Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories

Valorie: The Long Road to Family

Valorie was born in New Jersey, she was relinquished at birth and placed with her adopted family at 2 months old.  There were many difficulties and challenges growing up, it certainly was not a fairytale childhood.  Some of the challenges included not bonding with her adopted mother, problems at school with other children and authority figures, drug and alcohol addiction in her teen years.  Despite these difficulties she found sobriety at an early age, moved out at the age of 19 and started the journey of healing.  Although she did not actively search in her younger years, her biological family was often on her mind, and she desired to search but did not know how to go about it.  After feeling more urgency to search in later years she finally had an amazing break and found both sides of her biological family in one weekend by totally different avenues.  She has been in reunion with both her birth mother and birth father along with many other members of his side of the family since 2024, which although scary at first, has been an incredible journey that is still unfolding.  For Valorie the fairytale came later, the rainbow after the storm. Season 12 Book: The Adoption Paradox by Jean Kelly Widner EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, April 11th, at 1 pm ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect Adoptee Mentoring Society Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Emma: The Truth Beneath "Chosen"

Emma was born in Tennessee in 1989 and flown home just two days later — on Valentine’s Day. As a child, her adoption seemed more like a fairytale than a lived experience. Growing up in the country in an old farm house in the rolling blue hills of Western Massachusetts, she spent most days drawing, writing or exploring the fields and woods. Despite her home and her loving and creative family, she began to experience persistent anxiety and depression that worsened with age. Meeting her birth mother at around twenty set off a cascade of often severe mental health challenges and a long search for understanding. Over the fifteen years that followed, she unraveled defenses and began to face the hard truths inherent in her story — the hard truths the “chosen baby” narrative had so neatly disguised. Season 12 Book: The Adoption Paradox by Jean Kelly Widner EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, March 7th, at 1 pm ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect Adoptee Mentoring Society Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Season 11 Finale: Monica Hall, Jesse Scott & Liz Harvie

Season 11 concludes with Monica Hall, Jesse Scott, and Liz Harvie discussing their powerful books - Practically Still a Virgin, You Can’t Get Rid of Me, and Unspoken - and exploring the many layers of the adoptee experience. In a deep and honest conversation with hosts Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne, themes of identity, belonging, truth, and voice are thoughtfully examined. Each book offers a distinct and compelling adoptee perspective, contributing meaningfully to the broader adoption narrative. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault Unspoken by Liz Harvie EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, March 7th, at 1 pm ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect Adoptee Mentoring Society Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Maria: The Long Road to Knowing

Maria was born and raised in the SF Bay Area in a hippie town full of diversity and freedom.  Her journey began in a temporary foster home until she was adopted at about four months old from the Children's Home Society to parents who already had three older kids, all boys.  Her adoptive parents divorced when she was three, but co-parented as best they could.  She had a lifelong interest in her creation story, specifically why her olive skin was so different from her adoptive brothers. She always felt distinctly different.  When she was seven, her father gave her the "adoption" speech, "we chose you, you're not biologically ours, etc..  It never felt like enough information.  Her search took many twists and turns, considering it was before the internet, so the journey was a bit longer, but determination prevailed.  She never stopped looking in every corner for clues. Many years later, she fit the puzzle together.  While she still struggles with identity, the answered curiosities proved to calm some of the anxiety.  She now devotes time to discovering all about adoption and how it has formed her life.  Maria still resides in the Bay Area with her three adult kids and two grandkids. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault Unspoken by Liz Harvie EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, March 7th, at 1 pm ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect Adoptee Mentoring Society Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jan: Hidden in Plain Sight

In 1954, Jan was born in a Quaker unwed mother's home. She was relinquished at birth, and her adoptive parents and brother became her world. When Jan turned 38, she was inundated with what she calls "nudges" to locate birth mother. Meeting her birth mother and biological family led to a complex and incredible balancing act because both adoptive and biological families lived in the same city, She considers it a journey worth taking. After retiring from her years of working in a classroom setting with children dealing with a variety of complex emotional and behavior issues, she decided to organize all the journals she enjoyed writing as a youngster growing up in northwest Ohio. Jan's passion for researching the details of her story heightened the desire to write her adoption story in the memoir, Finding the Rest of Me. Jan's book details her journey to uncover her roots and discover her true identity. It's also a captivating exploration of the Friends Rescue Home, where she was born. It delves into the home's rich history and fascinating evolution, shedding light on a little-known aspect of the past. A vivid picture is composed of this providential institution and the women who found shelter within its walls, beginning in 1905. She resides in her country home on the cliff above the Kentucky River in central Kentucky, surrounded by her husband, animals, and nature. When she's not writing, she enjoys being in the woods, hiking or on the water, kayaking. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault Unspoken by Liz Harvie EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, March 7th, at 1 pm ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect Adoptee Mentoring Society Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.