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

Greta: The Road from Loneliness to Self

Born in 1968 in Fargo, ND, during the Baby Scoop Era, Greta spent a month in foster care before being adopted. She was never touched or held by her first mother. Greta was raised in a dysfunctional family, which contributed to her pain and the deep loss she felt, wondering who her first mother was and why she didn't want her. Shrouded in secrecy, adoption was never discussed, and Greta retreated into the Ghost Kingdom — finding refuge in basketball and creativity. Greta received a full-ride college basketball scholarship and majored in theatre, people-pleasing, and perfectionism. She was plagued by feelings of loneliness. She found her first mother and father in 1989 and learned her first mother had had her at 16 and had been sent to a home for unwed mothers. Greta has two full-blood siblings and two half-brothers. Reunion was initially a fairytale, and although that ended abruptly, she stayed in reunion for over 30 years. She is currently estranged from her first mother and her sister. Greta has worked as an actor in Los Angeles and Phoenix and spent many years in the public defender system as a paralegal. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and rescue dog, Gilda, and credits the connection with other adoptees as lifesaving. Greta has been in recovery from anorexia since 2022. She has written and performed her one-woman show,  “Searching for Me in All the Wrong Places,”  in Los Angeles and is currently writing a new solo play about her adoption journey. Season 12 Book: The Adoption Paradox by Jean Kelly Widner [https://adoptionparadox.com/] EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podcast-event-with-atmom-special-guests-in-austin-texas-tickets-1976521553172?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl] Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! [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, April 11th, 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.

Raven: Living Beyond The Lies

Raven was born in 1949 in North Hollywood, CA. Released at five days old to the delivering doctor and his wife, she has no idea where she went or when her adoptive parents got her. Raised in Balboa, CA, she always knew she was adopted because she was told her mother had died, giving birth to her. This story left Raven anxious, guilty, and fearful throughout her growing-up years- that others would die, and she would be alone. Her adoption into the family was difficult, unloving, and emotionally abusive by her adoptive mother. Though her dad loved her, being 47 years old, his generation didn’t really know how to show love. At 16, Raven was sent away to an island in British Columbia to live with strangers for 13 months and to attend 11th grade. Out of sight, out of mind. When she was in her early 30s, her oldest adoptive brother shared with her that her biological mother hadn’t died when she was born. This news left her in shock and numb… talk about being thrown into a deep fog! Though Raven’s whole life history was about death, lies, abandonment, lack of trust, she’s gone on to find she has a deep desire, after the death of her husband, to sit with the dying.~ that it’s important and a gift, that we make death as meaningful as birth. At 77, she’s still learning who she is and works at Home Health and Hospice as a Remote Patient Monitoring Technician. A job she loves. Season 12 Book: The Adoption Paradox by Jean Kelly Widner [https://adoptionparadox.com/] EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podcast-event-with-atmom-special-guests-in-austin-texas-tickets-1976521553172?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl] Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! [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, April 11th, 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.

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 [https://adoptionparadox.com/] EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podcast-event-with-atmom-special-guests-in-austin-texas-tickets-1976521553172?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl] Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! [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, April 11th, 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.

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 [https://adoptionparadox.com/] EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podcast-event-with-atmom-special-guests-in-austin-texas-tickets-1976521553172?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl] Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! [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, March 7th, 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.

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: [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] EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206! [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/live-podcast-event-with-atmom-special-guests-in-austin-texas-tickets-1976521553172?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl] Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas! [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, March 7th, 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.