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Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Louise Browne & Sarah Reinhardt
198 episodes
5 days ago
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 former business partners who had a successful ice cream truck in Los Angeles, team up again - this time in frank and honest conversations about all things adoption from the adoptee perspective. Both were adopted shortly after birth, but they had very different experiences. These will be intimate conversations, but also fun - because Sarah and Louise know how to lighten things up and have a good time. They also have an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a subject with anyone who crosses their path - so conversations will take many turns.
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Society & Culture
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All content for Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories is the property of Louise Browne & Sarah Reinhardt and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
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 former business partners who had a successful ice cream truck in Los Angeles, team up again - this time in frank and honest conversations about all things adoption from the adoptee perspective. Both were adopted shortly after birth, but they had very different experiences. These will be intimate conversations, but also fun - because Sarah and Louise know how to lighten things up and have a good time. They also have an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a subject with anyone who crosses their path - so conversations will take many turns.
Show more...
Parenting
Personal Journals,
Kids & Family,
Society & Culture
Episodes (20/198)
Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Laura: Finding Family, Finding Truth
Laura, born in South Carolina in 1984 and adopted as an infant through Catholic Charities, grew up in a loving family where adoption was openly discussed but searching for biological relatives was discouraged. After the birth of her second child, she began a search that led to reunion, answers, and healing, and today she lives with her husband and three children while working as a child welfare attorney.
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5 days ago
55 minutes 16 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Alana: Finding Home in the Truth
Alana Godin, a Vancouver-born adoptee raised by loving parents who longed for a daughter, grew up grateful yet constrained by expectations, later becoming a young mother whose second child sparked a determined search for her origins. Through years of searching and eventual reunion with both birth parents and many siblings, Alana’s journey—marked by mental health struggles, chronic illness, and deeper understanding of her mother’s relinquishment—became one of resilience, healing, and the fundamental right to know where we come from.
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1 week ago
1 hour 6 minutes 31 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Annette: A Fragile Beginning
Annette was born during the Baby Scoop Era and spent her early months moving through foster care, experiencing medical distress and a period of failure to thrive before being adopted by her forever family at three months old. Today, after retiring from a 35-year teaching career, she is active in her community, beginning to write her first book, and preparing to adopt an older child—adding a new chapter to her lifelong adoption story.
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2 weeks ago
49 minutes 3 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Jane: The Wound Beneath the Joy
Jane was adopted at twelve days old in a privately arranged adoption in 1964, joining a loving couple on the Isle of Wight who, despite limited income and her father’s disability from polio, provided her with a stable and nurturing home. Though she has lived a joyful and fulfilled life, raising five children of her own, Jane continues to carry the subtle lifelong wounds of relinquishment-feelings that surface most strongly around her birthday.
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3 weeks ago
54 minutes 24 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Mary: Turning Questions into Advocacy
Mary, a Baby Scoop Era adoptee born in 1965, spent decades searching for her birth family and finally accessed her original records in 2014, uncovering the deep secrecy and shame surrounding adoption. She went on to focus her doctoral research on the Baby Scoop Era and now advocates for adoptee rights through legislation, education, and ongoing reform.
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1 month ago
1 hour 21 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Jodi: Art, Identity, and Reunion
Jodi is a Baby Scoop Era adoptee from Los Angeles whose life has been shaped by a lifelong search for identity and belonging. Now in reunion with her father, she continues to honor both the losses and the connections that define her story.
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1 month ago
1 hour 2 minutes

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Mike: Comedy Born from Truth
Mike Knox is a Los Angeles-based comedian, writer, and actor whose work blends personal storytelling with sharp observational humor; adopted at birth in Pasadena, he brings depth and heart to everything he creates. A retired parole agent, he’s also the author of several books and now pursues acting, improv, and clowning with the same passion he brings to the stage.
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1 month ago
41 minutes 3 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Recinda: From Orphanage to Art
Recinda, an artist, writer, and TikTok creator, was adopted from a Beirut orphanage by an American family after seven years there, navigating new languages and cultures amid a transient military life. Her journey of survival has been marked by resilience as she continues to heal from the lasting trauma of abuse experienced in both her orphanage and adoptive home.
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1 month ago
1 hour 18 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Stephanie: Breaking Silence, Building Connection
Stephanie was adopted shortly after birth into a loving family whose early losses profoundly shaped her empathy and understanding of belonging. Now a family law attorney and mother of two, she advocates for children and families while navigating her own meaningful reunion with her birth mother and half-brothers.
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2 months ago
57 minutes 16 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Doug: Digging for Truth, Finding Belonging
Douglas Shaver, adopted shortly after birth, spent his youth navigating questions of identity that were later shaped by his experiences living in Saudi Arabia, where he developed a deep appreciation for different cultures. His lifelong exploration of belonging and adoption-related trauma ultimately guided him toward a career in archaeology and a commitment to understanding human relationships, both personally and professionally.
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2 months ago
1 hour 4 minutes 1 second

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Elena: Through Adopted Eyes
Elena S. Hall is a Russian adoptee, author, and social worker who uses her platform Through Adopted Eyes to bring honesty, faith, and empathy to adoption conversations. Through her books and advocacy, she invites others to see adoption in all its complexity-both the joy and the grief.
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2 months ago
39 minutes 27 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Charlotte: From Secrets to Self
Charlotte Angeles was adopted at birth in Pasadena, California, and always knew her beginnings held unanswered questions. After becoming a mother herself, she began uncovering her biological roots-finding family, loss, and ultimately, a deeper sense of identity.
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2 months ago
55 minutes 45 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Kim: Adoption and the Power of Story
Award-winning author and journalist Kim Orendor, adopted at three months old, shares her personal story through her writing, including her young adult novel To Whom It May Concern, which explores adoption and won the NextGen INDIE Gold Medal. She lives in Northern California.
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2 months ago
43 minutes 59 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Tim: From Hidden Wounds to Wholeness
Tim Perdion, adopted at birth in 1969, grew up in a loving family but struggled with identity and belonging until reuniting with his biological parents at 46. Now a senior leader, life coach, and mentor, he helps men embrace vulnerability, heal from hidden wounds, and live with greater clarity and wholeness.
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3 months ago
1 hour 4 minutes 12 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Abby: Live Podcast from Washington, D.C.
Dr. Abby Hasberry, a domestic transracial adoptee and birth parent, is in full reunion with both her biological family and her son. Through her work, Adopting Privilege, she raises awareness of the trauma and identity challenges in adoption while centering adoptee voices in the adoption narrative.
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3 months ago
51 minutes 8 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Susie:A 35-Year Journey to Belonging
Susie DeTitta was adopted as an infant in California and raised in Arizona, where she built a loving life with her adoptive family. Decades later, a long-awaited reunion with her biological relatives sparked a 35-year journey of discovery, connection, and belonging between two families and two worlds.
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3 months ago
46 minutes 26 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Dave: From Separation to Self
Dave Verrone’s life, shaped by early separation and adoption, carried both love and struggle. From bonding with a foster family to navigating identity in his adoptive home, he grew into a quiet but resilient “pleaser.” Through perseverance, he built his own family, faced life’s challenges, and eventually reconnected with his biological relatives-a journey of resilience, acceptance, and self-discovery.
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3 months ago
1 hour 2 minutes 54 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Karen: From Reunion to Healing
Karen’s reunion with her birth family at 29 was both transformative and emotionally complex, highlighting the lack of adoptee-centered therapeutic support. Inspired by this gap, she pursued graduate studies in her 40s and now works as an adoptee-competent therapist, offering empathetic care rooted in lived experience.
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4 months ago
55 minutes 12 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Pete: A Mother Lost, A Self Discovered
Pete Droge, acclaimed for his 1994 debut Necktie Second and praised for songwriting likened to Bob Dylan and Neil Young, has released a series of solo albums, composed for film and television, and appeared in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous. In this episode, he discusses his new album Fade Away Blue, a deeply personal sonic memoir chronicling his journey to reconnect with his birth family, confront a mysterious illness, and embrace his most vulnerable songwriting to date.
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4 months ago
59 minutes 46 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Bob: Unsealing the Past and Embracing the Present
Bob Wilson, an adoptee born in the early 1970s, began searching for his birthmother after reading Ann Fessler’s The Girls Who Went Away, ultimately reuniting with her nearly two decades ago and building a close relationship. Now an associate professor at Syracuse University, he reflects on their story and the wider history of adoption in his published essay Relinquished.
Show more...
4 months ago
1 hour 18 seconds

Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
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 former business partners who had a successful ice cream truck in Los Angeles, team up again - this time in frank and honest conversations about all things adoption from the adoptee perspective. Both were adopted shortly after birth, but they had very different experiences. These will be intimate conversations, but also fun - because Sarah and Louise know how to lighten things up and have a good time. They also have an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a subject with anyone who crosses their path - so conversations will take many turns.