x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

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

00:47:28

Mioara: The Long Thread Home

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

2026/04/07

Born into Roma heritage and adopted at just six weeks old, Mioara was raised by a Canadian/New Zealand family, growing up between cultures while carrying a quiet curiosity about her own origins.In 2018, with the help of her father-in-law, she reconnected with her biological parents—an experience that reshaped her understanding of identity, belonging, and the unseen threads that connect us. Through that journey, Mioara discovered she had a younger sister who had also been relinquished at birth and

en-us

01:09:25

Jeff: Behind the Chameleon Mask

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

2026/03/31

Jeff was born in San Francisco in October 1962. He was relinquished at birth and placed with his adoptive family three months later, in January 1963. His family moved from the Bay Area to Southern California when he was five years old. His older sister was also adopted, and both children grew up in a caring, loving home. They were informed of their adoptions at an early age, and the topic was always discussed positively anytime afterward. Nevertheless, specific challenges often faced by adopted

en-us

01:03:02

Greta: The Road from Loneliness to Self

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

2026/03/24

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

en-us

00:57:19

Raven: Living Beyond The Lies

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

2026/03/17

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

en-us

01:16:03

Valorie: The Long Road to Family

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

2026/03/10

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

en-us

00:58:51

Emma: The Truth Beneath "Chosen"

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

2026/03/03

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

en-us

01:09:22

Season 11 Finale: Monica Hall, Jesse Scott & Liz Harvie

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

2026/02/24

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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,

en-us

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

en-us

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,

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

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

en-us

213 results

Similar Podcasts

Tale Teller Kids

Sarnia de la Mare

米克馬故事坊

咪萊

Imagination Station

Imagination Station

Die Pferde sind nicht das Problem - und du bist nicht zu blöd. Der Aha-Podcast für Pferdemenschen

Silke Jahn & Maren Diehl

Hanna fragt Papa - Der Podcast für neugierige Kinder und Eltern

Hanna und Thomas Schamberger