Adoption Utah

Surviving Birth Trauma, Choosing Adoption (with Catherine Garrett)

She was resting with an epidural when her heart started racing. By the time her husband returned with the nurse, she was in full cardiac arrest. In this episode of Adoption Utah, host Donna Pope sits down with Catherine Garrett, founder of the Birth Trauma Stories podcast, after a 1% chance of survival reshaped her family. Nine Days, Seven Surgeries An amniotic fluid embolism triggered cardiac arrest, a stroke, and nine days on ECMO life support in a coma. Catherine came home a month later to a toddler and a newborn, facing chronic disability, pain, and fatigue that persist more than six years later. Half Her Siblings Are Adopted Catherine's parents fostered and adopted two boys through the Florida foster care system. That legacy runs deep. After a hysterectomy took biological children off the table, adoption shifted from family history to a future she prays about and a door she keeps open. Grief, Gratitude, Same Hand Her husband navigated months of caregiver fatigue. Her older daughter said she felt alone as a child with a disabled mom. Through couples therapy, community, and faith, this family learned that hard things and beautiful things can live in the same chapter. An Adoption Utah story about surviving a 1% chance, rebuilding a family around disability, and the adoption legacy that keeps one mom's heart open for more. Listen now on your favorite platforms and share with anyone navigating birth trauma, foster care, or the decision to open their home to a child.   #AdoptionUtah #BirthTraumaStories #AdoptionStories #FosterCareAdoption #PerinatalTrauma #AFESurvivor #AdoptionJourney #FosterToAdopt #HeartToHeartAdoptions #AdoptionPodcast #DisabledMom #CaregiverSupport #TraumaSurvivor #AdoptionCommunity #YouCanDoHardThings  Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms: Website: www.AdoptionUtah.org | YouTube: @AdoptionUtah | Twitter/X: AdoptionUtah | Instagram: AdoptionUtah | LinkedIn: Adoption Utah Follow Donna Pope: LinkedIn: Donna-Pope-41652ba/ Follow Catherine Garrett: LinkedIn: @Catherine-Garrett-8ab422249 | Website: BirthTraumaStories.com | YouTube: @BirthTraumaStories | Instagram: @BirthTraumaStoriesPodcast

Protecting Birth Mothers’ Choice in Adoption Ethics

“This is the best part of my day.” Judges say this at nearly every adoption finalization. After more than 1,100 cases, attorney Lonn Litchfield still feels the same way. In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, Lonn shares insights from decades of adoption law, explaining why ethical adoption begins with one core principle: a genuine choice for birth mothers. From contested cases that stretch on for years to courtroom moments that restore hope, he explains what keeps experienced attorneys committed to adoption work over a lifetime. Contested Adoptions and Legal Battles   Most adoptions move smoothly from consent to finalization. Occasionally, a biological father, birth mother, or relative challenges the process. These contested cases can last for years and require extensive preparation. Lonn has lost limited contested cases because agencies do thorough work before placement begins. In Utah, he has never seen a birth mother successfully set aside her consent, even though the law technically allows it. The key is ensuring that consent is informed, voluntary, and properly obtained from the start. Ethics Defined by Choice   For Lonn, ethical adoption means a birth mother has real choice, with all options presented and respected. Dignity, liberty, listening, and support—regardless of her decision—are essential. One judge used to honor birth mothers at every finalization, recognizing the courage and love involved in placing a child for adoption. That perspective continues to guide how Lonn approaches every case. Why Everyone Benefits From Adoption   Just before this interview, a judge told Lonn that finalizing an adoption was the perfect way to end the day. That sentiment is echoed every time. The child gains stability; adoptive parents realize a long-held hope, and birth families find peace knowing their child is loved. Lonn’s own father was adopted in 1932, giving him a generational view of adoption’s lasting impact. In an imperfect world, adoption helps make things more whole. An Adoption Utah story about protecting families under pressure, honoring voluntary consent, and why adoption remains deeply meaningful legal work. Listen now on you favorite platforms and share with anyone navigating adoption decisions or seeking clarity around ethical adoption.  YouTube  Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms: Website: https://www.adoptionutah.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdoptionUtah Twitter/X: https://x.com/adoptionutah Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoptionutah/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/108160387/ Follow Donna Pope: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/donna-pope-41652ba/ Follow Lonn Litchfield: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lonn-litchfield-1853181/ Profile: https://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/lonn-litchfield Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms: Website: www.AdoptionUtah.org | YouTube: @AdoptionUtah | Twitter/X: AdoptionUtah | Instagram: AdoptionUtah | LinkedIn: Adoption Utah Follow Donna Pope: LinkedIn:  Donna-Pope-41652ba/

How Adoption Transformed a Hesitant Dad into a Devoted Father

In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, Richard and Elizabeth share their seven-year journey from Richard's firm rejection of adoption to becoming passionate advocates for open relationships with birth families. Richard admits he refused to pray about his wife's spiritual prompting because he feared the answer, worrying about finances, genetic connections, and inviting strangers into their private family circle. The Transformation Their story takes unexpected turns through international adoption agency shutdowns, adoption.com scams, and the miraculous connection with 19-year-old birth mother Kaylee who found their deleted profile two months after they gave up. Richard and Elizabeth describe being present during labor, watching Kaylee's parents demonstrate unconditional love, and the temple sealing where Kaylee held baby Posey at the altar. Reserved Couple Becomes Radically Open Richard now describes adoption as the experience that made him a better person, opening his reserved heart to relationships he never imagined possible. Their relationship with Kaylee evolved from cautious meetings to genuine friendship, with Kaylee now walking into their home unannounced and attending family gatherings alongside Richard and Elizabeth's three biological sons. An Adoption Utah story proving that initial resistance can transform into life-changing love. Listen now for hope and practical wisdom on navigating hesitation, scams, and building open adoption relationships. Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms: Website: www.AdoptionUtah.org YouTube: @AdoptionUtah Twitter/X: AdoptionUtah Instagram: AdoptionUtah LinkedIn: Adoption Utah Follow Donna Pope: LinkedIn: Donna-Pope-41652ba/

Writing My Way Home: An Adoption Story of Love and Reunion

In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, adoptee and writer Dr. Liz DeBetta unpacks adoption through the lens of creative healing, sharing her lived experience from growing up in a closed adoption feeling emotionally overwhelmed and alone. She recounts starting to write secret poems at 14 to process unnamed grief, receiving her original birth certificate on her 40th birthday, and the reunion with her first mother who said, "I've been waiting for this day for 40 years." Making Space to Heal The conversation stays grounded in the internal experience of being adopted, including the challenge adoptive parents face with resistance to curiosity and the need to hold space for the "both/and" rather than either/or thinking. Liz explains how adoption asks families to act "as if" while creating disconnection, and argues that adoptive parents must work against resistance to make room for both families to coexist. She discusses taking two years to tell her adoptive parents about the reunion and the estrangement from her adopted brother, who views her search as betrayal. Creative Tools for Connection Drawing on her award-winning solo show 'Unmothered' and her Migrating Toward Wholeness process, Liz explains using writing and performance as tools for processing embodied trauma through five core principles: making space to heal, rewriting the truth, expressing the primal wound, becoming the subject, and breaking silences. She addresses how going back to teenage poetry revealed unacknowledged loss and grief, and offers guidance for adoptees seeking community, birth parents navigating impossible choices, and adoptive families learning to stay curious. A guide to creative healing in adoption that honors complexity, validates internal experience, and offers pathways to connection. Listen now and share with someone seeking tools for processing adoption trauma. Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms: Website: www.AdoptionUtah.org | YouTube: @AdoptionUtah | Twitter/X: AdoptionUtah | Instagram: AdoptionUtah | LinkedIn: Adoption Utah Follow Donna Pope: LinkedIn: Donna-Pope-41652ba/ Follow Liz DeBetta: LinkedIn: @Dr-Liz-DeBetta | Website: LizDeBetta.com | Instagram: @dr.liz.debetta | Facebook: Dr-Liz-DeBetta | eMail: dr.liz@lizdebetta.com

Adopted and Loved: A Therapist’s Journey to Healing the Heart

In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, adoptee and licensed therapist Troy Love unpacks the complexity of adoption through his framework of six attachment wounds, sharing lived experience from being adopted at five days old into a family struggling with domestic violence. He recounts managing the duality of loving adoptive parents who caused harm, searching for his birth mother at 37, and the Valentine's Day reunion that brought immediate connection and answered lifelong questions. Wounds That Shape Identity The conversation explores the six attachment wounds Troy identified in his therapeutic practice: loss, neglect, abandonment, betrayal, rejection, and abuse. Troy explains how adoptees carry wounds of abandonment even when birth parents made loving decisions, and how adoptive parents need to understand their children's struggles may stem from pre-placement trauma rather than parenting failures. He shares his own journey from self-hatred to self-love and the incremental process of learning to let others' love in. Therapeutic Models for Healing Drawing on years of therapy and his work helping others, Troy discusses practical approaches for each member of the adoption constellation. He addresses what adoptees need to hear about their worth, what birth parents deserve to know about their sacrificial decisions, and what adoptive parents should understand about supporting their children's curiosity without feeling threatened. His Finding Peace Workbook emerged from clients asking where they could learn more about healing attachment wounds. A Utah adoption conversation that honors complexity, validates pain, and offers pathways to healing for all involved. Listen now and share with someone navigating adoption trauma.