Dumped at Birth

Why birthdays hit different for adoptees [Interview]

Many adoptees don’t know their true birthday. That’s a reality for us and our friend, Michelle Nakamoto, an actress, fellow Chinese-American adoptee, and former host of her own podcast “Error 404: Birthday Not Found.” In a belated birthday celebration, we share our thoughts on astrology, “gotcha days,” visiting the orphanages we were adopted from, and reflect on our most recent revolution around the sun.  — About the podcast:  Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Recording and editing by Tayler Bunge Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold Theme by The Blasting Company  — Instagram: @dumpedatbirth  @dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com [dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com]  Dumpedatbirthpod.com

Interview: A Native American Jewish Adoptee

In our first guest interview, Ariella shares insight into her unique experience as a domestic transracial Native American Jewish adoptee. From discovering she was Native American as a teenager, instead of Salvadorean as she initially believed, to reclaiming her Native culture and community as an adult, we explore the nuances of that experience. Ariella shares what it means to be triple abandoned by her birth mom, her adoptive mom teaching her to empathize with her birth mom from a young age, and why adoptive parents should always “see color." CW: adoption — Resources: Video: How the us stole thousands of native american children (Vox) Read: The Long History of Native American Adoptions (Harper’s Bazaar)  Read: Native American People & Mormonism (Wikipedia) — About the podcast:  Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Recording, mixing, editing by Tayler Bunge Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold Theme by The Blasting Company

Nature vs Nurture: 2 Chinese Adoptees on their White Families

Transracial adoption often means growing up in a culture that is not typically associated with your ethnicity. In other words, for Leah and Tayler: being shown Asian culture by white people. As two transracial Chinese adoptees growing up in the Bay Area and Denver respectively, they had two incredibly different childhoods with two different sets of white parents. It’s affected a lot of how they show up in the world, and they wanted to share some things they’ve learned (and are still curious about). They’ll talk about genetic mirroring, nature v nurture, adopting your parents’ culture, and generally what it means to be a different ethnicity than your immediate family.  — About the podcast:  Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Recording, mixing, and editing by Tayler Bunge Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold Theme by ⁠The Blasting Company⁠  — Instagram:⁠ ⁠@dumpedatbirth⁠ Threads: @dumpedatbirth  TikTok: ⁠@dumpedatbirth⁠ ⁠dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com⁠  ⁠dumpedatbirthpod.com⁠ — Instagram: @dumpedatbirth  @dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com [dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com]  Dumpedatbirthpod.com

Jewish identity as a Chinese Adoptee: adopting your parents’ culture

One of our co-hosts, Leah, is Jewish. In light of current events, we wanted to offer some thoughts about what it means to “adopt” our parents’ culture while still living with the actual ethnicity into which we are born. As an adoptee, we are adopted by our parents’ cultures, their heritages, their family histories, and the ways in which their own ethnic backgrounds have affected their lives. This conversation does not speak to the larger nuances of current circumstances but rather offers an additional perspective about what it means to be both Jewish, Chinese, American, and adopted. Later, we will be releasing a larger episode about our adoptive parents and childhoods as adoptees.  CW: discussion of (not utilizing) racial slurs, ongoing Israel / Palestine / Hamas conflict, adoption  — About the podcast:  Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Recording, mixing, and editing by Tayler Bunge Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold — Instagram: @dumpedatbirth  @dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com [dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com]  dumpedatbirthpod.com

The f*** is a primal wound? 2 Adoptees on Dating

What does romantic attachment after adoption actually feel like? Two Chinese transracial adoptees (Leah & Tayler) take an honest, curious, and navel gazing look at dating and relationships. Leah is currently single with unflinchingly high standards out on these streets. Tayler is a dormant bisexual in a long term hetero relationship. Together, they have exactly zero birth parents and countless “abandonment issues.”  They’ll talk about: fear of abandonment, setting standards, object permanence, in-law “adoption,” joking about trauma, defense mechanisms, domesticity, parenting your inner child, stability and control, The Primal Wound, and (for some reason) Sigourney Weaver. Content Warning: adoption, birth parents, abandonment, childhood trauma. — About the podcast:  Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge Recording and editing by Tayler Bunge Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold Production support by Sebastian Torrelio  Theme by The Blasting Company [https://open.spotify.com/artist/4paO0IcImRazkM6c1RUt48?si=2BjGBbTWQbCfw4IZmHIzew]  — Instagram: ⁠@dumpedatbirth [https://www.instagram.com/dumpedatbirth/] Threads: @dumpedatbirth  TikTok: @dumpedatbirth [https://www.tiktok.com/@dumpedatbirth] ⁠dumpedatbirthpod@gmail.com⁠  ⁠dumpedatbirthpod.com⁠ –  Additional Resources: The Primal Wound [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Primal_Wound] (1993, Nancy Verrier)