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316 | Jennifer Lauck Today we are honoured to have with us New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lauck, whose memoirs have shaped how so many understand the adoptee experience. Her landmark book Blackbird is celebrating its 25th-anniversary edition this year. In our conversation we talk about Jennifer's childhood, how she first met Nancy Verrier, and her synchronicities in her reunion with her birthmother, Catherine Diane. We mention abuse at multiple times during this conversation, including sexual abuse, so please take care when listening.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here!   Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here!   Support Haley's new podcast here!   This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

315 | Alé Cardinalle, MSW Today's guest is Alé Cardinalle, an adoptee advocate who has taught millions of people on TikTok about the complexities of adoption. We talk about what reunion is like when it's international and everyone speaks a different language. One of my favourite things about Alé is how much she loves her adoptive parents, she will loudly say how she had a privileged, love-filled life and even with all of those positives, adoption is still a trauma and has deeply impacted her. We also talk about pregnancy loss and how Alé's experiences make her uniquely suited to talk with empathy to hopeful adoptive parents.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here!   Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here!   Support Haley's new podcast here!   This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

314 | Nik Chang Hoon Today's guest is memoirist and poet, Nik Chang Hoon. Nik shares his journey of identity and language reclamation, including returning to Korea and reuniting with his birth mother in secret. We also talk about estrangement, healing, and his powerful writing that invites us to look deeper at the pain and resilience of finding one's place between families and cultures.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here!   Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here!   Support Haley's new podcast here!   This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

313 | Molly Gaudry Today's guest is Molly Gaudry, author of Fit Into Me: A Novel A Memoir. This interview is one of the first ever Molly has given surrounding her adoptee identity. Relatable to anyone who has contradictory or missing narratives in their origin stories, Molly shares the complexities of using literary defense mechanisms in her writing to push readers away from her personal truth. We also talk about her brain injury and recovery, how that physical vulnerability and even intimacy sometimes felt safer to share about than her adoption experience.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here!   Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here!   Support Haley's new podcast here!   This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

Bonus | Adoptees for Family Preservation Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here!   Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here!   Support Haley's new podcast here!   This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

312 | Lynelle Long Lynelle Long has been an adoptee advocate for nearly thirty years. The founder of Inter-Country Adoptee Voices (ICAV) Lynelle has built a network of thousands of adoptees around the world to both connect with each other and to effect change at each level of government, as high up as the United Nations. Today we get to hear some of her personal story, including her choice to have her adoption discharged in 2022, and about her role as an active observer to the Hague Convention. Lynelle also has some advice to adoptee advocates for our efficacy and longevity in adoption reform spaces. We do mention sexual abuse at a couple of points in this conversation, so please take care when listening.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here!   Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here!   Support Haley's new podcast here!   This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

311 | Sasha Hom Sasha Hom lives an extraordinarily unconventional life. I'm so excited to introduce her to you. She's a writer, goat farmer, mother, and her new book Sidework is incredible. Today we talk about her experiences as a Korean adoptee, adopted to a Chinese American couple in California. Sasha tells us about her trips to Korea and China, we talk motherhood as adoptees, and how important writing is in her life.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

310 | Mirella Stoyanova Mirella Stoyanova is our guest today, and I don't normally say this, but this was one of my favourite conversations in recent memory. Mirella is a therapist and writer, and her insights dazzled me. We talk about her experience being adopted at age 5, and what coming to America from Bulgaria was like. We discussed the what-ifs of kinship adoption, living in the both/and of grief and gratitude, and she shares an insight that stops me in my tracks: do adoptees reflect an existential crisis back to society?   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

309 | Megan Hunter, MBA It's such an honour to bring you today's guest, Megan Hunter, MBA. Megan is known as the Conflict Influencer, and is the co-founder of the High Conflict Institute. We get to know Megan's personal story today, including her reunion story. Megan shares about how she first connected with her birthmother, about a gut-wrenching experience with her biological father that resurfaced an adoptee wound, and she offers us advice in navigating new reunion relationships, including both the complex and the beautiful sides.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

308 | Alexandra Mann Who among us doesn't love a good movie? And how many times have you been watching a film and, jump scare, some terrible adoptee trope comes out of nowhere. Today's guest, Alexandra Mann had that happen one too many times and what grew out of that all too common adoptee misrepresentation in the media, was the Adoptee Film Fest which is now in it's second year (spotlighting adoptee filmmakers, telling adoptee stories). Alexandra shares about her personal story as a domestic, transracial adoptee from Hong Kong, and how therapy preserved her relationship with her adoptive parents after a giant secret came to light. We do have a mention of suicidal ideation in this conversation so please listen with care.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

307 | [Healing Series] The Nothing Place with Pam Cordano, MFT I'm so glad to be back with you after our summer break! Today's episode is a special episode in our Healing Series that truthfully I've been scared to do and I've intentionally been waiting to do because of this fear. This concept has been on my show topic list for several years, ever since I heard the words, "The Nothing Place", for the first time. I believe that naming and describing this idea to you could be so deeply helpful for adoptees that we just have to go there today. This could potentially break open a block we've had in describing the true complexities and impact adoption separation has on us. Pam Cordano, MFT, one of our favourite adoptee therapists is here to tell us about The Nothing Place, the glaring gaps in attachment theory that don't address adoptees' very real separation trauma, and how examining this part of us can unlock a new sense of grounding and belonging that we haven't been able to access before.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

306 | [Healing Series] Money and Worth with Marta Isabella Sierra Cifuentes, LMHC For our last episode before our summer break, we're talking about adoptees and money! Marta Isabella Sierra Cifuentes, LMHC is back and teaching us all about money, worthiness, the obvious commodification of children, the basics. Marta said it best in this episode, "if you're adopted, it's not even about the money. It's about belonging, respect, feeling seen, feeling acknowledged, mattering to the other people and equality."   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

305 | Maria Diemar and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom We have two incredible adoptee activists with us today. Maria Diemar and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, both adopted in Sweden, joined up to elevate adoptee causes in some very impactful ways. Maria is the subject of Lisa's latest graphic novel, The Excavated Earth, which exposes a horrific story of how thousands of Chilean babies were literally kidnapped and stolen to be sold for adoption to Sweden and many other countries. You won't believe some of the shocking details that Maria and Lisa share with us today. Lisa also shares a few thoughts with us on the findings of the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

304 | Dr. Michele Merritt Today's guest is Dr. Michele Merritt - a philosophy professor who's coined the new term Adoptism to describe the ways adoptees are marginalized. Michele shares some of her personal story, including the curiosity she always had about where she came from. We discuss what led her to start critiquing adoption publicly and the barriers to publishing these critiques that some academic journals put in place, like the classic, "I know one adoptee and they don't feel that way". We do mention suicide during this conversation, so please take care when deciding if this a safe episode for you to listen to.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

303 | Craig Mod Craig Mod the author of Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir joins us to share his story. We deep dive into Craig's recent reunion with his birthmother including the complexities of searching in the digital age when so much of our information is publicly available. Being fairly new to adoptee-land, Craig also gave Haley a chance to talk through some of the things that complicate the usual sunshine and rainbows view of adoption. Update - Craig will join us for our July book club when we will be reading Things Become Other Things. We do make reference to sexual assault briefly at a couple of different points during this episode, so please take care when deciding if this a safe episode for you to listen to.   Full Show Notes and Transcript Here   Join our adoptee community on Patreon here   Check out our upcoming live events here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.