Laurie takes three-year-old Diego back to Guatemala for the first time since his adoption. While Diego bonds with his birth mother Isabel, Laurie starts talking with birth mothers all over the country. Many are young, live in poverty, or are survivors of the Guatemalan civil war. 
 
Despite how much adoption costs for families in the U.S., Laurie begins to realize how little birth mothers receive in exchange.
Meanwhile, Diego is growing up as an indigenous Mayan kid in St. Paul, Minnesota — loving hockey, hating Spanish lessons, and navigating what it means to have family in two places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Laurie takes three-year-old Diego back to Guatemala for the first time since his adoption. While Diego bonds with his birth mother Isabel, Laurie starts talking with birth mothers all over the country. Many are young, live in poverty, or are survivors of the Guatemalan civil war. Despite how much adoption costs for families in the U.S., Laurie begins to realize how little birth mothers receive in exchange. Meanwhile, Diego is growing up as an indigenous Mayan kid in St. Paul, Minnesota — loving hockey, hating Spanish lessons, and navigating what it means to have family in two places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Laurie takes three-year-old Diego back to Guatemala for the first time since his adoption. While Diego bonds with his birth mother Isabel, Laurie starts talking with birth mothers all over the country. Many are young, live in poverty, or are survivors of the Guatemalan civil war.&nbsp;
 
Despite how much adoption costs for families in the U.S., Laurie begins to realize how little birth mothers receive in exchange.
Meanwhile, Diego is growing up as an indigenous Mayan kid in St. Paul, Minnesota — loving hockey, hating Spanish lessons, and navigating what it means to have family in two places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices" rel="noopener noreferrer">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a>

Defining Diego | 2. Where I'm From

Defining Diego is the story of one Guatemalan adoptee and his mother, a reporter who documented their journey from his earliest steps, as they try to understand how international adoption boomed and busted, and what it all means for families like theirs, with feet in two worlds.

When Laurie Stern set out to adopt a baby from Guatemala in 1999, she thought the process would be pretty straightforward. Lots of people were doing it.

But the adoption was held up just as she went to Guatemala to get her son, Diego. That began a journey of discovery. What unfolds is the story of why international adoption peaked — and then collapsed — in Guatemala. It is also the story of how Diego, now 24, learned to be a Maya man with deep roots both in his birth village and Minnesota, where he still lives.

Now, Diego has questions about his adoption, too — like why tiny Guatemala was such a popular choice for many adoptive parents in the U.S. and Europe in the early 2000s. As one of more than 50,000 Guatemalan adoptees, Diego’s still figuring out what it means to be Guatemalan, American, indigenous Tzutujil, and an adoptee raised by white parents in St. Paul, Minnesota.

At its heart, Defining Diego is a deeply personal narrative: of a mother and son grappling with big questions about identity and health, and the meaning of home and family. Using 20+ years of the family’s archive recordings, we hear Diego grow up — and begin his own journey of self-discovery

Defining Diego is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. 

From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. 

Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. 

Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Defining Diego show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. 

The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

A Sony Music Entertainment production.

Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

Society & Culture

Documentary

Relationships

Parenting

Kids & Family

Defining Diego is the story of one Guatemalan adoptee and his mother, a reporter who documented their journey from his earliest steps, as they try to understand how international adoption boomed and busted, and what it all means for families like theirs, with feet in two worlds. When Laurie Stern set out to adopt a baby from Guatemala in 1999, she thought the process would be pretty straightforward. Lots of people were doing it. But the adoption was held up just as she went to Guatemala to get her son, Diego. That began a journey of discovery. What unfolds is the story of why international adoption peaked — and then collapsed — in Guatemala. It is also the story of how Diego, now 24, learned to be a Maya man with deep roots both in his birth village and Minnesota, where he still lives. Now, Diego has questions about his adoption, too — like why tiny Guatemala was such a popular choice for many adoptive parents in the U.S. and Europe in the early 2000s. As one of more than 50,000 Guatemalan adoptees, Diego’s still figuring out what it means to be Guatemalan, American, indigenous Tzutujil, and an adoptee raised by white parents in St. Paul, Minnesota. At its heart, Defining Diego is a deeply personal narrative: of a mother and son grappling with big questions about identity and health, and the meaning of home and family. Using 20+ years of the family’s archive recordings, we hear Diego grow up — and begin his own journey of self-discovery Defining Diego is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Defining Diego show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

Share Defining Diego | 2. Where I'm From

Sign up to save your podcasts

Defining Diego | 2. Where I'm From

Defining Diego | 2. Where I'm From

More shows like Defining Diego

The Binge Cases: Fatal Beauty

Chameleon: Dr. Miracle

The Opportunist

Death on the Lot

The Binge Crimes: Finding Mom's Killer

The Just Enough Family

Chameleon: Hollywood Con Queen

I Am Rama

Fake Priest

Crooked City: Dixon, IL

The Maxwells

Wild Boys

BioHacked: Family Secrets

Crooked City: Youngstown, OH

Infamous

TAGGED

Fringe Network: Alien State

Deadly Cure

Just Say You're Sorry

Chameleon: Dr. Dante

Devil in the Ditch

Betrayal on the Bayou

Evaporated: Gone with the Gods

Infamous: Dubai's Missing Princesses

Body Brokers

Inconceivable Truth

In the Shadow of Princeton

My Fugitive Dad

The Greatest Scam Ever Written