Many adoptees don’t know their true birthday. That’s a reality for us and our friend, Michelle Nakamoto, an actress, fellow Chinese-American adoptee, and former host of her own podcast “Error 404: Birthday Not Found.” In a belated birthday celebration, we share our thoughts on astrology, “gotcha days,” visiting the orphanages we were adopted from, and reflect on our most recent revolution around the sun. 
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About the podcast: 

Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Recording and editing by Tayler Bunge

Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold

Theme by The Blasting Company 

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Instagram: @dumpedatbirth 

@[email protected] 

Dumpedatbirthpod.com

Transracial adoption often means growing up in a culture that is not typically associated with your ethnicity. In other words, for Leah and Tayler: being shown Asian culture by white people. As two transracial Chinese adoptees growing up in the Bay Area and Denver respectively, they had two incredibly different childhoods with two different sets of white parents. It’s affected a lot of how they show up in the world, and they wanted to share some things they’ve learned (and are still curious about). They’ll talk about genetic mirroring, nature v nurture, adopting your parents’ culture, and generally what it means to be a different ethnicity than your immediate family. 

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About the podcast: 

Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Recording, mixing, and editing by Tayler Bunge

Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold

Theme by ⁠The Blasting Company⁠ 

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Instagram:⁠ ⁠@dumpedatbirth⁠

Threads: @dumpedatbirth 

TikTok: ⁠@dumpedatbirth⁠

⁠[email protected]⁠ 

⁠dumpedatbirthpod.com⁠

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Instagram: @dumpedatbirth 

@[email protected] 

Dumpedatbirthpod.com

One of our co-hosts, Leah, is Jewish. In light of current events, we wanted to offer some thoughts about what it means to “adopt” our parents’ culture while still living with the actual ethnicity into which we are born. As an adoptee, we are adopted by our parents’ cultures, their heritages, their family histories, and the ways in which their own ethnic backgrounds have affected their lives. This conversation does not speak to the larger nuances of current circumstances but rather offers an additional perspective about what it means to be both Jewish, Chinese, American, and adopted. Later, we will be releasing a larger episode about our adoptive parents and childhoods as adoptees. 

CW: discussion of (not utilizing) racial slurs, ongoing Israel / Palestine / Hamas conflict, adoption 

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About the podcast: 

Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Recording, mixing, and editing by Tayler Bunge

Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold

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Instagram: @dumpedatbirth 

@[email protected] 

dumpedatbirthpod.com

What does romantic attachment after adoption actually feel like? Two Chinese transracial adoptees (Leah & Tayler) take an honest, curious, and navel gazing look at dating and relationships. Leah is currently single with unflinchingly high standards out on these streets. Tayler is a dormant bisexual in a long term hetero relationship. Together, they have exactly zero birth parents and countless “abandonment issues.” 

They’ll talk about: fear of abandonment, setting standards, object permanence, in-law “adoption,” joking about trauma, defense mechanisms, domesticity, parenting your inner child, stability and control, The Primal Wound, and (for some reason) Sigourney Weaver.

Content Warning: adoption, birth parents, abandonment, childhood trauma.

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About the podcast: 

Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Recording and editing by Tayler Bunge

Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold

Production support by Sebastian Torrelio 

Theme by The Blasting Company 

—

Instagram: ⁠@dumpedatbirth

Threads: @dumpedatbirth 

TikTok: @dumpedatbirth

⁠[email protected]⁠ 

⁠dumpedatbirthpod.com⁠

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Additional Resources:

The Primal Wound (1993, Nancy Verrier)

In a candid convo, two adult Chinese adoptees, both born during China’s One Child Policy, dive into the modern realities of being adopted. In the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, we’re tackling a topic head-on: why “choosing adoption” is not a simple solution to the abortion debate.

We’ll talk about: empathizing with our birth mothers, the One Child Policy, adoptee suicide rates, "adoption doulas," adoption rates before and after Roe v Wade, the politicization of adoption, and our honest experiences as adult adoptees. 

Content Warning: abortion, adoption, Roe v Wade, One Child Policy. We recognize all people with uteruses who are capable of becoming pregnant, but in this episode, due to the specific subject matter of our personal adoption experiences, we heavily utilize “mother” and “women” to contextualize these individuals. 

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About the podcast: 

Produced by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Co-created and hosted by Leah Kelly-Reingold and Tayler Bunge

Recording and editing by Tayler Bunge

Marketing and design by Leah Kelly-Reingold

Sound engineering support by Sebastian Torrelio 

Theme by The Blasting Company 

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Instagram: @dumpedatbirth  

[email protected] 

dumpedatbirthpod.com

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Additional Resources: