Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

10 Episodes
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By: Jennifer Dyan Ghoston

Through an audio drama, episodes of thought-provoking conversations and bonus recordings, the listening audience can learn some of the issues that the adoption community face from the perspective of the adoptee.

168. Monica Hall: "Practically Still a Virgin"
Last Tuesday at 11:00 AM

Monica Hall was born in Canada, adopted by American parents, and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. Growing up in a house filled with dysfunction, Monica rebelled against her strict Catholic parents in a downward spiral of delinquency. After being raped and finding out she was pregnant, her parents pushed her to up give her daughter–her only known blood relative– for adoption. Her experiences as an adoptee and a mother who relinquished a child for adoption kicked off a decades-long search for family and belonging. Over the course of 44 years, Monica got sober, embarked on a journey of self-discovery and self...


167. Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh: "A Search Angel"
03/19/2024

Marilyn Mendenhall Waugh is the Director of Adoption Concerns Triangle of Topeka, a search and support group serving those in Northeastern Kansas, and past president of the American Adoption Congress. She is a frequent conference presenter on ethical search and reunion techniques. For the past 28 years, Marilyn has volunteered in the Post Adoption Services of the Kansas Division for Children and Families and was presented their 2014 Kansas Service Award.

"Four Birthmothers-For Mothers", a film by Jean Strauss https://vimeo.com/119964199?fbclid=IwAR1trqaG6l_KmBuo5zTPJgEGz0G97OAGefedo7jgXHs8HZtLI_NgBRm0LWo

https://adopteesunited.org/<...


166. Melissa Brunetti: "Mind Your Own Karma: The Adoption Chronicles"
03/12/2024

Melissa Brunetti is a domestic adoptee from the baby scoop era and even though she had what she calls a 'good adoption with great adoptive parents' that doesn't mean she doesn't still have scars from her relinquishment. She says that she sees her healing journey as a gift that has shown her hidden treasures among the trauma. Melissa is the podcast host of Mind Your Own Karma The Adoption Chronicles and is a Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery Practitioner which is a newly emerging and highly effective somatic modality that can heal trauma of all kinds. She hopes her story...


165. Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard: "Part 2; Birth Parents Unfiltered"
03/05/2024

Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard is a birth mother who has spent several years working in the adoption field—both as a paralegal on the West Coast and in adoption agencies in the Midwest and East Coast. Kelsey is the fourth generation in her family to relinquish a child for adoption and her whole life has been uniquely impacted by adoption as a result. She earned her undergraduate degree from South Dakota State University and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Kelsey is the Director of Advocacy and Policy at Et...


164. Tara Griffith: "Navigating Adoption"
02/27/2024

Tara Griffith is an adoptee, adopted at the age of 13, through an open kinship adoption. She is a birth mother of almost 18 years in an open adoption. Tara is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Florida who has spent the last 14 years working in the field of adoptions. She opened a DCF licensed adoption home study agency in 2021 in hopes that she could better be able to educate adoptive families pre and post adoption regarding the importance of always remaining adoptee centered and regarding the nuances that develop as a child lives outside of their family...


163. Sara Easterly: "Part 1; Adoptees Unfiltered"
02/20/2024

Sara Easterly is an award-winning author and essayist. Her latest book, Adoption Unfiltered (Rowman & Littlefield, Dec 2023), is a collaboration with birth parent Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard and adoptive parent Lori Holden. Her spiritual memoir, Searching for Mom, won a 2020 Illumination Book Award gold medal, among many others. Sara’s adoption-focused articles and essays have been published by Psychology Today, Dear Adoption, Feminine Collective, Her View from Home, Red Letter Christians, and Severance Magazine, to name a few. Sara is Founder of Adoptee Voices and previously led one of the largest chapters of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators (SC...


162. David Bynum: "A Journey of Discovery"
02/13/2024

Returning guest David Bynum was born and adopted at birth in Columbus, Oh. He began his search in 2018 and is currently in reunion with both sides of his biological family. He is a married father of three and grandfather of six. He is a U.S. Army Veteran and Retired Correctional Officer. David Recently retired from coaching High School Football at Reynoldsburg High School due to the Coved – 19 pandemic. David and his wife Marie own ByDam Multimedia, which is the parent company to Star107fm https://www.star107fm.com/personalities an online radio station that has a global pr...


161. Barbara Robertson: "Black Anthology: Adult Adoptees Claim Their Space"
02/06/2024

Original Air Date: May 11, 2021

Barbara Robertson is affiliated with NAAP (National Association of Adoptees and Parents) and co-facilitates a virtual support group Adoption Network Cleveland once a month.

She is a contributor to "Black Anthology: Adult Adoptees Claim Their Space" (The An-Ya Project) https://www.amazon.com/s?k=adult+adoptees+claim+their+space&crid=3MHVR2DDF70GC&sprefix=adult+adoptees+claim+their+space%2Caps%2C248&ref=nb_sb_noss

Co-editing by Charles Yingling at The Blueroom Studios, Nashville, TN

Music by Corey Quinn


160. Angie Gilles: "Courage and Faith over Fear"
01/30/2024

Angie Giles is an international adoptee, orphan, sister, daughter, wife, mother, friend and craft entrepreneur. In the beginning, the only thing she knew was her biological mother's name, Isabel Gamez. Angie was given up at 6 days old to the Rosa Virginia Peletier orphanage on June 22, 1978. She was given the name Rutilia De Los Angeles Gamez at birth.

Angie was born in El Salvador, Central America and at the age of three adopted by Tom and Charlene Smith. She is the youngest of eight, but grew up as an only child. During her youth in West Des Moines...


159. Iris Peterson Bryant: "Adoptees In Arms "
01/23/2024

Iris P. Bryant is a recent widow and mom of two young adults. She is passionate about helping women find purpose on the other side (or smack dab in the middle) of pain. She has served an online community at irispbryant.com for several years. She is also an adult adoptee and she created The Adoptees in Arms community to help adult adoptees find hope and peace in God’s word. In addition to these ministries, Iris faithfully serves as a worship leader in her local church. When she is not writing or serving in ministry, she enjoys traveling, re...