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PODCAST

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

Louise Browne & Sarah Reinhardt

Two adult adoptees, Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne, delve into all things adoption - from their perspectives as adult adoptees. Each season Sarah and Louise recap a chapter from a book centered on adoption and then interview a guest. Sarah and Louise come out of the "fog" in real-time through Seasons One and Two and are advocating for change in the adoption industry. They want to give voice to all adoptees. Adoptee stories are needed to reframe the narrative around adoption.Sarah and Louise, two

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

00:50:39

Maria: The Long Road to Knowing

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/02/17

Maria was born and raised in the SF Bay Area in a hippie town full of diversity and freedom. Her journey began in a temporary foster home until she was adopted at about four months old from the Children's Home Society to parents who already had three older kids, all boys. Her adoptive parents divorced when she was three, but co-parented as best they could. She had a lifelong interest in her creation story, specifically why her olive skin was so different from her adoptive brothers. She always

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00:55:18

Jan: Hidden in Plain Sight

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/02/10

In 1954, Jan was born in a Quaker unwed mother's home. She was relinquished at birth, and her adoptive parents and brother became her world. When Jan turned 38, she was inundated with what she calls "nudges" to locate birth mother. Meeting her birth mother and biological family led to a complex and incredible balancing act because both adoptive and biological families lived in the same city, She considers it a journey worth taking.After retiring from her years of working in a classroom

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01:04:59

Neshia: Carrying Truth, Creating Safety

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/02/03

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide and mental health struggles; if you or someone you know needs help, please call/text 988 in the US and Canada.Neshia, short for Teneshia, is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was apprehended from her biological mother due to neglect and entered the child welfare system as a Crown ward in the late 1980s. After being adopted in the early 1990s, she was later remade a Crown ward again in the mid to late 1990s. The systems meant to protect her did not

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01:03:28

Kelly: From Disappearing to Becoming

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/01/27

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide and mental health struggles; if you or someone you know needs help, please call/text 988 in the US and Canada.Kelly Jean Torres is an author, singer-songwriter, and trauma-informed storyteller whose work explores what it means to survive and heal. Raised in a web of foster care, domestic violence, addiction, and emotional neglect, Kelly grew up learning how to disappear in order to stay safe. Born in Illinois and now based in Nashville, Tennessee,

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00:59:09

Jackie: A Life of Loss and Reclamation

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/01/20

Jackie’s life and work are rooted in the profound belief that every individual deserves a "brave space" to show up authentically, fully, and without judgment. As the Executive Director of a Hospice Home and the founder of Lega-C Healing by Jackie, she dedicates her days to guiding others through life’s most delicate transitions with grace, intuition, and deep compassion. Her professional path is inextricably linked to her extraordinary personal journey. A survivor of orphan trafficking

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01:01:01

Dean: Adopted, Reunited, Moving Forward

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/01/13

Born in England, to a young American Mother, Dean was adopted by a loving English couple who already had another, separately adopted son. Fully aware of being adopted from an early age, both siblings struggled for a sense of identity, and tension was ever-present in the family. Eventually, aged 33, Dean decided to attempt to find and connect with his birth mother and was eventually able to do so, aged 42. Reunification went very well for a few years, but eventually their relationship became toxic,

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00:52:09

Mindy: From Relinquished to Rooted

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2026/01/06

Relinquished at birth, Mindy was the only girl and the oldest child in her family, learning at age five that she had been adopted. Her childhood was marked by serious anxiety and feelings of being an outsider while also losing herself in the role she fulfilled as “Mindy”.Finding her maternal bio-family in her mid-thirties helped her to solve some of the mystery behind her abandonment. After the tragic passing of both of her adoptive parents when she was forty-three, Mindy began coming to terms with

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00:55:16

Laura: Finding Family, Finding Truth

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/12/30

Laura was born to teen parents in South Carolina in May 1984 and was adopted through Catholic Charities by a wonderful and loving couple who could not have biological children. An adopted brother joined the family seven years later. She always knew she was adopted, and while adoption was spoken about openly and positively, it was understood by both siblings that searching for biological family would not be supported.The birth of Laura’s second child sparked a curiosity to begin the search through

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01:06:31

Alana: Finding Home in the Truth

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/12/23

Alana Godin, born in 1966 in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an adoptee raised in a family whose mother, after three sons, had longed for a daughter. Growing up, Alana struggled to fit the role imagined for her but remained deeply grateful to her adoptive parents, whose support later allowed her to keep and raise her own child.As a teenager, Alana had to navigate adulthood early, becoming pregnant and marrying young, but it was the birth of her second child that created a strong pull to understand

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00:49:03

Annette: A Fragile Beginning

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/12/16

Annette started her life as part of the baby scoop era. Annette’s first six days of life were spent in the hospital while she awaited a decision by her biological mother about whether or not she should keep her baby. Annette was placed with a foster mother under the name of Sara.It is challenging to obtain birth records from the State of Wisconsin, but Annette was able to obtain some of the records of her first three months of life. Little Sara did not have an easy time during her first seven

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00:54:24

Jane: The Wound Beneath the Joy

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/12/09

Jane’s adoptive parents had only two weeks' notice of her arrival! At twelve days old, Jane was taken to her new family who lived on the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England.The children’s social worker was not best pleased when a file landed on her desk informing her of a privately arranged adoption, a ‘fait accompli’ of which she was openly very critical. The year was 1964, and Jane reports always having felt very grateful that fate brought her and her wonderful parents

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01:00:21

Mary: Turning Questions into Advocacy

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/12/02

Mary is a Baby Scoop Era adoptee born in 1965. She was not adopted until she was almost 8 months old, after being moved to a couple of foster homes. She was told she wasn’t “doing well” at the first, likely because they had too many children there. Raised in a small town by a conservative Catholic family with her brother—also adopted two years later—Mary and her brother always knew they were adopted.She always felt a sense of disconnection—the “weird kid” who didn’t fit in—so searching was a

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01:02:00

Jodi: Art, Identity, and Reunion

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/11/25

Jodi is a Baby Scoop Era adoptee, born in Los Angeles, California, in 1966. For her, adoption has never been a single event but a lifelong journey of searching, questioning, and seeking understanding. She is now in reunion with her father, and both share a deep connection as artists. Jodi lives in Los Angeles with her family. Her story reflects the complexities of identity, family, and belonging, and she continues to honor both the losses and the connections that have shaped who she is today.Season

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00:41:03

Mike: Comedy Born from Truth

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/11/18

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

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01:00:18

Recinda: From Orphanage to Art

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/11/11

Recinda is an artist, writer, and TikTok creator. The chasm between Recinda now andthe 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

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00:57:16

Stephanie: Breaking Silence, Building Connection

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/11/04

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

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01:04:01

Doug: Digging for Truth, Finding Belonging

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/10/28

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

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00:39:27

Elena: Through Adopted Eyes

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/10/21

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 in 2016—a collection of memoirs from adoptees reflecting on their journeys. She later created

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00:55:45

Charlotte: From Secrets to Self

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/10/14

Charlotte Angeles was conceived during an affair that her biological father was having with her biological mother. She was born in Pasadena, CA, in 1987, and was held in her adoptive parents’ arms that same day. She knew from an early age that she was adopted - that her birth mother was very young and didn’t have the means to raise her alone - and her adoptive parents always offered a safe space to ask questions. But Charlotte didn’t decide to dive deeper until she gave birth to her first child in

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00:43:59

Kim: Adoption and the Power of Story

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of... ·

2025/10/07

Award-winning author and journalist Kim Orendor was adopted at three months old. Her parents told her about the day she joined their family, along with other stories at bedtime. Kim continues to share her own story with others and has authored an adoption-themed young adult novel. She lives in Northern California.Kim's YA fiction story "To Whom It May Concern" with an adoption theme, won the NextGen INDIE gold medal. Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order: Practically Still a Virgin

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206 results

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