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

Mike: Comedy Born from Truth

Mike Knox is a Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and performing artist whose work blends personal storytelling with observational humor. Originally from Pasadena, California, he was adopted at birth from White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. Mike Knox is the author of the books Vivien’s Rain, written about his daughter’s experience with epilepsy, and Straight Fish, and Isla Vista Halloween. In addition to stand-up comedy, Mike Knox is a retired Parole Agent now pursuing his passion for acting, improv, and clowning. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault [https://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Get-Rid-Me/dp/1960462598] Unspoken by Liz Harvie [https://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Liz-Harvie/dp/183770046X] Sign up to be part of our mailing list! [https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/] Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE [https://patreon.com/themakingofmepodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] community. The next meeting will be Saturday, December 6th, at 1 PM ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect [https://adopteesconnect.com/] Adoptee Mentoring Society [https://www.adopteementorship.org/] Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law [https://adopteerightslaw.com/] Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/firesideadoptees/] Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement [https://www.lizdebetta.com/] Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate [https://mosesfarrow.com/] National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted [https://kristalparke.net/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recinda: From Orphanage to Art

Recinda is an artist, writer, and TikTok creator. The chasm between Recinda now and the baby dropped off at an orphanage based in Beirut, Lebanon, is large. She was profoundly changed by her adoption from an American family stationed in Izmir, Turkey, after a seven-year span of life at the orphanage. She had to become adaptive to a new language, an American way of living, as well as the many schools and locations that are an elementary part of military life. Survival is the key component to Recinda’s life, even after leaving her adoptive family, as she was not prepared mentally for an enlarged world view or life. She struggled with the echos of the mental, physical, and sexual abuse of both the orphanage and her adoptive family. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault [https://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Get-Rid-Me/dp/1960462598] Unspoken by Liz Harvie [https://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Liz-Harvie/dp/183770046X] Sign up to be part of our mailing list! [https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/] Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE [https://patreon.com/themakingofmepodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] community. The next meeting will be Saturday, December 6th, at 1 PM ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect [https://adopteesconnect.com/] Adoptee Mentoring Society [https://www.adopteementorship.org/] Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law [https://adopteerightslaw.com/] Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/firesideadoptees/] Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement [https://www.lizdebetta.com/] Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate [https://mosesfarrow.com/] National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted [https://kristalparke.net/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Stephanie: Breaking Silence, Building Connection

Stephanie was born in the Chicago suburbs in June 1983 and adopted 4 days after birth. Her birth mother was 19 years old and was an employee of an attorney associate of her adoptive father's.  Through a private adoption arranged by the attorney, Stephanie was placed into a loving adoptive family with two biological children (and later one adopted sister and one biological brother), both of whom were affected by Canavan Disease and passed away when she was still a child—an experience that shaped her deep sense of empathy but also her perspective on family, belonging, and loss. Today, Stephanie is a mother of two girls and a family law attorney, and the founder of her own practice, where she helps individuals and families navigate the often-complicated transitions of divorce, parenting, and rebuilding. She serves as a Guardian Ad Litem advocating for children and assisting adopted children whose parents are going through the divorce process. Stephanie is now reunited with her birth mother and her two half-brothers—an experience that has profoundly impacted her and brought her "out of the fog" while also presenting complexities in her relationship with her adoptive family. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault [https://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Get-Rid-Me/dp/1960462598] Unspoken by Liz Harvie [https://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Liz-Harvie/dp/183770046X] Sign up to be part of our mailing list! [https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/] Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE [https://patreon.com/themakingofmepodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] community. The next meeting will be Saturday, December 6th, at 1 PM ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect [https://adopteesconnect.com/] Adoptee Mentoring Society [https://www.adopteementorship.org/] Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law [https://adopteerightslaw.com/] Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/firesideadoptees/] Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement [https://www.lizdebetta.com/] Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate [https://mosesfarrow.com/] National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted [https://kristalparke.net/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Doug: Digging for Truth, Finding Belonging

Douglas Shaver was born at Florence Crittenton's Home for Unwed Mothers in Kansas City in 1968. He was adopted five weeks after birth. Though adopted into a loving and supportive family, he struggled with identity and with his place in the world. During middle school, his family moved to Saudi Arabia.  It was during that time in the Middle East that he developed a passion and understanding of different cultures and the communities of people within those cultures. This passion–combined with a constant evaluation of his place in the world as an adoptee– may be what inspired his eventual career in Archaeology. That said, the timeline between the Douglas of Saudi Arabia and the Archaeologist-Douglas of today is punctuated by a series of significant events familiar, but profoundly affecting to many adoptees. Suffice to say, as an adoptee, reunion and the effects of adoption trauma have played a significant role in the success and challenges in relationships throughout his life. Through his own work on his adoption journey, Douglas has focused his energies on understanding adoption-related trauma within the adoption triad.  And as mentioned previously, the interest spurred by always seeking to understand relationships played in part in his career in later years.  Douglas currently works as an Archaeologist, traveling extensively throughout the United States for work. Two of his three children spend half their time with him, and his oldest lives with him full time. He decides his time between his work, travels, his children, and his partner. This episode was sponsored by The Adoptee Mentoring Society [https://www.adopteementorship.org/]. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault [https://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Get-Rid-Me/dp/1960462598] Unspoken by Liz Harvie [https://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Liz-Harvie/dp/183770046X] Sign up to be part of our mailing list! [https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/] Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE [https://patreon.com/themakingofmepodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] community. The next meeting will be Saturday, November 1st, at 11am ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect [https://adopteesconnect.com/] Adoptee Mentoring Society [https://www.adopteementorship.org/] Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law [https://adopteerightslaw.com/] Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/firesideadoptees/] Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement [https://www.lizdebetta.com/] Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate [https://mosesfarrow.com/] National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted [https://kristalparke.net/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Elena: Through Adopted Eyes

Elena S. Hall is a Russian adoptee, author, social worker, and the voice behind the Instagram page @ThroughAdoptedEyes. She is passionate about her faith, finding joy amidst grief, and loves ice cream! Adopted at a year and a half into a family that was always open about adoption, Elena brings a unique blend of personal experience and professional insight to her work. She began writing Through Adopted Eyes [https://a.co/d/6HO2So7] in 2016—a collection of memoirs from adoptees reflecting on their journeys. She later created Through Adopted Hearts to offer a fuller picture of the adoption constellation. Elena is also the author of the children’s books Adoption Is Both and My Adoptee Voice, designed to help families talk about adoption in ways that are honest, age-appropriate, and empowering. Through storytelling, education, and advocacy, she uses her platform to challenge simplified adoption narratives and create space for real, nuanced conversations. Whether you’re an adoptee, adoptive parent, or someone eager to learn, Elena’s work invites you to see adoption through a more thoughtful, empathetic lens—one that centers lived experience. To find Elena on Instagram: @ThroughAdoptedEyes Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall [https://www.amazon.com/Practically-Still-Virgin-Adoption-Memoir/dp/B0CYGQQR2K] You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault [https://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Get-Rid-Me/dp/1960462598] Unspoken by Liz Harvie [https://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Liz-Harvie/dp/183770046X] Sign up to be part of our mailing list! [https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/] Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE [https://patreon.com/themakingofmepodcast?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink] community. The next meeting will be Saturday, November 1st, at 11am ET. RESOURCES for Adoptees: Adoptees Connect [https://adopteesconnect.com/] Adoptee Mentoring Society [https://www.adopteementorship.org/] Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law [https://adopteerightslaw.com/] Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group [https://www.facebook.com/groups/firesideadoptees/] Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement [https://www.lizdebetta.com/] Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate [https://mosesfarrow.com/] National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988. Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted [https://kristalparke.net/] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.