218 – I Could See Myself In Everyone

Mike, from Modesto, California, is a self-proclaimed introvert who was raised by a family of extroverted performers. With his adopted brothers, help Mike located his birth family, was well received on his paternal side, but was blocked out by a wall of defense by his birth mother. Thankfully Mike approached the reunion process with no … Read more

217 – Do I Just Let It Go?

Barbara who called me from Grand Rapids, Michigan, grew up an emotional child adopted by two refugees of war. When she found her birth mother, Barbara felt an immediate connection, struggled to get answers about her birth father, and uncovered lies about her origin story after the woman passed away. DNA helped Barbara locate her … Read more

216 – The Long Shot

John, from Southern California, learned at 10 years old he was adopted. But he didn’t do anything with the information for four decades while he lived a dream playing the game of basketball as a collegiate star, professional player, and international coach. On his search John found the man who transacted his adoption, heard stories … Read more

215 – Taking My Power Back Was Incredible

Becky, from Sydney, Ohio, said she has always searched for someone who resembled herself. When she found her birth mother, she was wounded by the woman’s fear reaction to having been found after two decades apart. Becky lived with her adoption reunion rejection trauma for years until she found the adoptee community, gained clarity on … Read more

074 – I Feel Some Of It Too

Serena told me she had a similar experience to what a lot of adoptees feel, even though she grew up with her birth mother. I’m always talking about empathizing with others, so I wanted to hear her story. Serena told me about her birth on a Native American reservation in Arizona then her mother moving away. She was adopted by … Read more

084 – There’s A Certain Sense of Completeness

Neal’s search didn’t take off until he was 66 years old! He got a DNA kit for his birthday and within months he was in touch with his paternal family. Ohio’s open original birth certificate help him learn his birth mother’s name, but he couldn’t find a single maternal connection during his search. This episode was just about to be wrapped up … Read more

091 – I’m In The Middle Of Two Stories

Ashley had one of those moments where talking to her biological sister felt so familiar it was like texting and and responding to herself.  But her birth mother’s pain and uneasiness over Ashley’s desire to learn anything about her birth father was too much for the woman, and their relationship suffered. When she found her birth father … Read more

075 – I’m Good On My Own, I Know Who I Am

In her adopted family Tameko’s parents just assumed that as an adoptee, she was misbehaving, but when her older adopted brother showed up he actually started framing her for terrible things, trying force her out. Even worse, he abused her. On her search, she read a description of her birthmother that humanized her, but the first pictures Tameko saw … Read more

197 – Why Such A Secret?

Lisa and I connected right before she was going to meet her biological father for the first time and a cousin she’s completely enamored with. Lisa shared that she was adopted as an infant into a failing marriage where divorce soon followed. While other people outwardly noticed how different she looked from her brother, she … Read more