Who Am I Really?
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Who Am I Really?
Adoptees telling their own stories of life in adoption, their search for their birth family, and how their reunion attempt turned out. Stories that make you laugh, cry, or simply say "wow". This podcast has two purposes: 1) To help you explore your own feelings about your adoption, accept your...
Episodi recenti
275 episodi
267 -Things Worked Out The Way They Were Supposed To
Sharla, from West Texas, grew up never wanting to find her birth family. But in truth, she knows she was suppressing that feeling. After a DNA test,...
266 - You Don't Have To Run Anymore
Elina, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was born in Russia. She spent her early years in her birth family’s care before moving into foster care. Then, a...
265 - Captain of Her Ship
Angie, from Southern Maryland. Growing up, Angie was frequently defined by her skin tone, as her relationship to her adoptive parents was questioned....
264 - Connected By Cousins
Donna, from New Jersey, grew up questioning the origins of her looks. In college the uniqueness of her appearance sparked curiosity. Donna spent year...
263 - I Know From Whence I Came
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 di...
262 - Un-M-Othered
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 foc...
142 - "American Baby", Gabrielle Glaser
David, and his birth mother Margaret's story of adoption relinquishment, lives lived apart but close to one another, and their brief emotional reunion...
115 – Shadows of the Night
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 t...
147 - Please Don't Carry That Weight Anymore
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 g...
135 – Something About This Tells Me We’re Family
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 is...
129 – Finding Him Brought Closure
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...
175 - The Thing I Needed To Forgive Myself
Kristen, from Minnesota, was a multi-sport athlete in high school, even competing while pregnant with her daughter. She tells the story of giving birt...
101 – This Is About Everybody
In Debby’s home adoption was an open topic because she was fostered by her grandparents and adopted by their daughter. Unfortunately, she wasn’t welco...
106 – Beautiful Truth
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...
261 - Born Without A Race
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...
260 - Il Mio Posto a Tavola (My Place at the Table)
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...
259 - The Innocent People Project
Jeff, from southern California, grew up with the knowledge of and separation anxiety about his adoption. In reunion, he found his birth mother who m...
258 - Twice the Family
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 togethe...
257 - Unjustified Rejection
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...
256 - I'm Not The Finished Package
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 h...
255 - This Is Me, But Why Is It Me?
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 opportu...
254 - I Do Not Want My DNA In Their System
George grew up in Soviet Georgia knowing he was different—both visibly and emotionally—in a society where adoption and his sexuality were dangerous se...
253 - The Veteran Community Helped Me Save Myself
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...
252 - Stoicism and Radical Acceptance
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 he...
251 - Adult-Adoptees.com, Dr. Amy Geller
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 dis...
119 – Refined By Fire
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 i...
113 – I Was Loved Everyday By People I Didn’t Know
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...
103 – Fixing The Fates
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...
108 – On The Outside Is Where I’ve Always Been
Pam, from Emeryville, CA, told me her desire to search started when she was a kid, but it was Oregon’s laws that changed everything for her search. Wh...
085 – A Bad Truth Is Better Than A Good Lie
After the adoptive father she loved so much died, Alison learned her birth father, Tim, was looking for her and she took it as a good sign of things t...
126 – Welcome Home
Andrew lives in Murphy, Oregon, near Grant’s Pass but his is an east coast story. Andrew grew up kinda feeling like an odd man out in his family, not...
110 – We’ve Wanted This Our Whole Lives
Jessica is a rare native, born and raised, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She shares how she found her biological relatives through DNA testing despite her bes...
095 – I Tested Her To See If She’d Give Up
Laura called me via Skype, would you believe, from Falkirk Scotland. Laura told the story of her childhood knowledge that she might have siblings out...
109 – You Can’t Change The Past
Dan has barely told anyone the his whole story until this episode. He shared that he was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) as an infant. Then...
083 – An Unbelievable Emotional Roller Coaster For Me
Before becoming an adoptee advocate Rich was searching for his own identity. As a child, his older adopted sister vengefully told him their mom wasn’t...
099 – We Were Both Missing Something In Our Lives
Joseph is a really outdoorsy guy who lives in Edmonds, Washington, about 30 minutes north of Seattle. He likes mountain biking, trail running, camping...
089 – I’m Reconciling This Feeling of Hurt
Steve, from London, Ontario, Canada shares his story of being adopted after his mother lost a child. Steve and his mother never connected, in fact, sh...
070 – I Don’t Think She Can Move Forward From The Pain
Kyle tells the story of growing up, towering over his mother and sister and looking very different from them, but being loved. Locating his birth moth...
250 - In Search of a Salve: Memoir of a Sex Addict
Katherin called me from Atlanta, Georgia. She grew up in a challenging environment with an adoptive mother on dialysis, an adoptive father who disenga...
249 -It Is So Good That This Is Real
Amy shared her story with me from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She learned about her adoption before her teen years—a revelation that left her in shock but...