Alex, whom I spoke with live in Los Angeles, California, said growing up, he could never quite pinpoint the out-of-place feeling he carried in his adopted life. When his children began asking about family medical history, an incredibly lucky mistake with 23andMe DNA testing kits led Alex to his full-blood brothers. Alex and his brothers … Read more
Mikayla (alias), from Australia, never wanted to confront her adoption until she began thinking about starting a family of her own. Through DNA testing, she uncovered both maternal and paternal connections, each marked by different levels of openness and receptivity that evolved and, in some cases, completely flipped. Ultimately, Mikayla earned the trust of her … Read more
Dr. Abby Hasberry spoke to me from Baltimore, Maryland. Transracially adopted, Abby was brought into a family that believed in racial harmony but didn’t support her ethnic expression as a teen. She became a first mother and was misled about the choices she made when placing her son. She has endured the ups and downs … Read more
Alejandra, who spoke to me from Tampa, Florida, said that growing up she towered over her Mexican parents as a blonde white woman. They loved her deeply, making her feel safe she feels loyalty towards them. But adoption reunion, found Alejandra twice. Her maternal side had searched for decades to find her. Her paternal aunt … Read more
Yvette, from Memphis, TN, shared that In her childhood no one would say the word “adopted”,. After a tense moment in the neighborhood and a series of events, Yvette figured out the truth. In reunion, Yvette learned she was placed for adoption at an odd place in the birth order of her siblings, corroborating an … Read more
Lauren, from southwest England in the UK, grew up knowing she was adopted and was loyal to her family, but applying to university and thinking through her life made her want to trace her roots. When she found her birth mother, she met a woman who started off chilly but warmed up when Lauren got … Read more
Nicole, from outside London in the UK, grew up in Australia. As a teenager, Nicole struggled with her adoption, so after reaching out for help, her birth mother was found, but that caused challenges with her adoptive parents. Soon after, Nicole’s birth father was found and proudly showcased, but she admits she wasn’t ready for … Read more
Greg, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, said when his son was born, he thought he could stroll into the D.C. adoption system to ask for his adoption records, but he learned there were significant barriers to access. He’s one of the few people who found reunion through a registry, meeting his birth mother just in time to … Read more
Christy, who called me from Utah, was deeply loved by her adoptive parents, who prayed she would be delivered to them. But throughout childhood, she was unable to shake the feeling of being abandoned. In reunion, Christy heard the hard truth of her conception, self-medicated to escape her feelings, then recovered to center herself in … Read more
Neshia, from outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, said her birth mother lived the street life and exposed her children to the full dark side of the choices she was making back then. Neshia credits one amazing foster family with showing her what a normal life as a child should be, but it was short-lived. Transplanted … Read more
