Lilly Schmaltz is with us today, you may know her as Adoptee Lilly on YouTube. Lilly shares her story of what pulled her into adoptee advocacy and why she’s so adamant about pushing back against the saviour narrative. We also get into some deeply personal topics including how her broken engagement brought up her abandonment all over again and what she does to pursue healing.

Full Show Notes Here

• Lilly Schmaltz: YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | lfsmusings.com
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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The holiday season is here and some of us could really use the support. In this episode, we ask one of our favourite adoptee therapists, Lesli A. Johnson, MFT, your questions about how to navigate the holidays! We collected all your DMs, emails, and comments and I peppered Lesli with scenarios about gift-giving, family gatherings, how to create our own traditions when estranged…get ready to have some practical takeaways from this episode.

Full Show Notes Here

• Lesli A. Johnson, MFT: www.askadoption.com | www.yourmindfulbrain.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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Stephanie Tait shares her story of being adopted from foster care, her childhood growing up in a conservative evangelical family, and navigating secondary rejection via ghosting by her birth mother. We also dive into some challenging questions surrounding the complexity of adoption and the church and how we can combat that traditional white saviour narrative.

Full Show Notes Here

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It is our honour to welcome Deanna Shrodes to the podcast. Deanna and I talk about her decades-long reunion with her biological mother and her mother’s heartbreaking promise to take her birthfather’s name to the grave. We hear about her lengthy DNA search and the challenging feelings that come along with more questions than answers. Deanna is a pastor and so, of course, we touch on adoption and the church and the literal ways Deanna is demonstrating what family preservation looks like.

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We are back with Lesli A. Johnson, MFT! In this Healing Series episode, we are examining the concept of reunion. Why did “they” pick 18 as the age for when adoptees are supposedly ready to reunite or have contact? What does navigating contact look like in a semi-open adoption as a child or teenager? As we reflect back on our own closed adoptions, what would have been more helpful for us? Lesli also takes us behind the curtain and shares some themes that she sees her clients expressing about reunion.

Full Show Notes Here

• Lesli A. Johnson, MFT: www.askadoption.com | www.yourmindfulbrain.com | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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A mashup of true crime and disenfranchised grief? Yes! We are learning about adoptee parricide from Dr. Tracy Carlis, a clinical psychologist who I’ve had the absolute honour of learning from in-person. In this episode, Dr. Carlis shares her personal story of search and reunion, including some exciting recent DNA search updates. Then we shift the conversation to her work in forensic psychology and she teaches us what we can glean from some incredibly tragic situations of adoptee parricide.

TW: We are going to discuss violence graphically at a few points during this episode, including a mention of sexual violence.

Full Show Notes Here

• Dr. Tracy Carlis: drtracylcarlis.com | Facebook
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Sue Green, a psychologist from Australia who was actively involved in the landmark Victorian Adoption Act of 1984 shares her personal story with us. We dig into what lead her to become an adoptee advocate, who now teaches other therapists and mental health professionals how to truly be adoptee-competent in working with our loss and trauma. We also touch on some interesting facts about adoption in Australia that will likely surprise you.

Full Show Notes Here

• Dr. Sue Green: vanish.org.au | Facebook
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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Dear Adoption, is joining up with Adoptees On again today! Reshma McClintock, the founder of Dear Adoption, is back and she brought us another letter that we are sure most adopted people will relate to. We also talk about a recent trip to Washington, DC that Reshma was a part of, where for the first time adult adoptee voices were invited and represented in the adoption conversation.

Full Show Notes Here

• Reshma McClintock: Instagram | Facebook | reshmamcclintock.com | Calcutta is My Mother | Dear Adoption,
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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Mary O'Rourke shares the difficult news she received in her non-identifying information at age 21. We discuss her reunion, the added complexity of coming out twice as queer, and how she ended up finding a grief support group and an adoption-competent therapist.

Liz shares about the shift her life took in her late thirties as she started to examine her adoption more closely. We talk about how Liz believes we can reveal who we truly are through writing, and how building our own narrative instead of accepting the ones that are placed on us can bring about tremendous growth.

Full Show Notes Here

• Liz DeBetta: www.lizdebetta.com
• Haley Radke: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
• Adoptees On: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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