James Vasilic was born and adopted in Brisbane in 1985 and has an incredible story about his experience of being adopted and reunion to share with us.

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Thomas Graham is a South African born adoptee, who migrated to Australia 25 years ago and in 2009 started the Australian Journal of Adoption (AJA) , an online journal providing an independent, open access forum for people affected by or involved in adoption. He published 16 volumes focusing on adoptee experiences before hanging up his hat. After AJA he published an adoption blog called Ipsify for three years, offering shorter and personalised interviews and commentary on adoption matters. 

He was also part of the grassroots adoptee groups that helped set the path for what is now known as Adoptee Rights Australia. In addition, Thomas once ran a Canberra-based adoption support group, sat on the government committee to oversee the implementation of some key recommendations in the Senate Report into Forced Adoption and then, by his own account, disappeared and withdrew from any involvement in the adoption community. 

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Thomas Graham is a South African born adoptee, who migrated to Australia 25 years ago and in 2009 started the Australian Journal of Adoption (AJA) , an online journal providing an independent, open access forum for people affected by or involved in adoption. He published 16 volumes focusing on adoptee experiences before hanging up his hat. After AJA he published an adoption blog called Ipsify for three years, offering shorter and personalised interviews and commentary on adoption matters. 

He was also part of the grassroots adoptee groups that helped set the path for what is now known as Adoptee Rights Australia. In addition, Thomas once ran a Canberra-based adoption support group, sat on the government committee to oversee the implementation of some key recommendations in the Senate Report into Forced Adoption and then, by his own account, disappeared and withdrew from any involvement in the adoption community. 

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

In today's episode we speak to Sarah Burns, Manager of the Benevolent Society's Post Adoption Resource Centre (PARC) about the first Australian Adoption Literary Festival; Stories Stranger than Fiction to be held on Saturday, 4 November 2023 from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Today’s guest was born in the Boothville Salvation Army Hospital in Brisbane in 1960 and was adopted one week later. Diana Jackson, has since gone on to make contact with both her mother and her father and knows from personal experience that adoption reunions can be complex and don’t always run a straightforward trajectory.

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Benjamin Franklin once famously said that ‘nothing is certain except death and taxes'. And yet, when it comes to procrastination we often find wills are at the top of the list of things we put off until later. The problem of course is that death can be unexpected, and it is the living who are left to cope with the consequences of the decisions made or left until too late. And adoption, as it does in most areas of life and relationships, adds an extra layer of complexity about these decisions. In this episode we speak to a succession law expert, Angela Cornford-Scott and Jigsaw Western Australia Counsellor, Isabel Andrews about the legalities and emotional issues of death and wills.

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Lindy Saunders was born in Manilla in the Philippines and was adopted in 1976 by Australian parents who brought her home to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Lindy was told shifting stories about her origins as many adopted people, particularly inter country adoptees often are, but she felt it was disrespectful to dig too hard for the truth. It wasn’t until her adoptive father passed away three years ago that her curiosity outgrew those feelings, and she began to search for her biological family. That search uncovered truths, half-truths and took her across the world to America.  

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Helen Weder was born in Brisbane in 1955 and adopted just six days later. She has since met her mother and more recently her father via an AncestryDNA test. In this episode, Helen shares her experience and how writing a memoir is helping her to process it.

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Peter Capomolla Moore is a family genealogist who stumbled across his adoption via a DNA test at the age of 59. The father of 5, grandfather of many and foster carer is also a committed advocate for adopted people through his work as President of Adoptee Rights Australia. 

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing. 

Today’s guest is a Queensland mother who lost a daughter, and a son to adoption. Di Riddell is also a rape and domestic violence survivor, who has dedicated her life to helping others find their voice and is the author of three books, Beyond Abuse, Speak Out and Knowing You.

This episode discusses adult themes and listener discretion is advised. For more information go to http://www.jigsawqueensland.com/episode-notes

Your host is Dr Jo-Ann Sparrow - President of Jigsaw Queensland (www.jigsawqueensland.com)

Connect with us

Instagram - adopt_perspective_podcast

Facebook - Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and the many lands that our clients now live on and we wish to acknowledge and show our respects to Elders past and present for their continuing connection to culture and the contributions they make to community. We acknowledge how much we have to learn from them and their unique understanding of connection and adoption and their recognition that at the base of every change is truth telling and healing.