Carl Niedzielski, named John DellaPenna at birth, was born in Western Massachusetts during the Baby Scoop Era of the late 1960s, and was relinquished and then adopted at some point at or soon after birth. Due to the low birthweight documented on his original birth certificate, it is assumed he spent time in NICU and also probably in foster care or in an orphanage such as the one operated by the agency that managed his adoption, Brightside for Children. As he has learned more about the impact of early childhood trauma, and connected more dots between his life experiences and the research in that area, a focus of his searching has been on finding out about his first few months of life; but the task has been challenging and may not ever be successful. While Carl always knew he was adopted, he did not learn about his biomom until 5 years ago, when he obtained his original birth certificate, which gave his biomom’s name, Gladys, and also the surprising information that she had been 41 years old at the time of his birth— in the 1960s, that would have been considered a very high risk pregnancy. He has recently been surprised again, when a random re-check of old Ancestry data yielded first contact with a bona fide biological relative. But that is when the story got weirder and led to the resolution many adoptees face: A more shocking story than expected, more information than ever hoped for, but still persistent gaps that with passing time are unlikely to be filled. Professionally, Carl works as a Senior Director, Grants and Research Development for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He is a passionate mental health advocate, reader, armchair detective, binger of all things, urban hiker, word-gamer, and beacher. He is a beginner in the adult adoptee community, but you can find him on social media occasionally participating in many of the wonderful online communities for adult adoptees. In this episode we weave Carls personal journey with his professional insights. He sheds light on the reality of suicide research along with a bounty of ideas on how we can take action. 

Resources mentioned: 
AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
NAMI( National Alliance on Mental Illness)

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