How Does Reuniting with Birth Relatives Create Trauma for Adoptees?

Julie McGue’s award-winning debut memoir, titled Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging, is currently being considered for a TV pilot. In this fascinating, insightful interview, Julie, who is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin, chats with Irene about finding out who you are, where you belong and making sense of it all. They also explore the complex topic of adoption viewed through the lenses of trauma and loss, the stigma, shame, rejection, and betrayal often associated with adoption, Julie’s family's profound journey to wholeness following the passing of her youngest sister Susie, how our responses to brokenness can shape the trajectories of our lives, and more. Tune in to hear this powerful interview brimming with meaningful insights that will surely expand your knowledge about adoption and familial bonds and touch your heart!

WATCH ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbWFw9Bvoeg&list=PL7judgDzhkAWmfyB5r5WgFD6ahombBvoh&index=2

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL HEAR ABOUT THINGS LIKE:

• Why Julie and her twin sister Jenny were put up for adoption.
• The challenges and logistics of Julie and Jenny’s closed adoption.
• Adoption viewed through the lens of trauma and loss.
• Why adoption is often surrounded by stigma, shame, rejection, and betrayal.
• Julie’s 5-year quest with her twin sister, Jenny, to find and reunite with their birth relatives.
• Uncanny synchronicities Julie discovered in the search for her birth relatives.  

SOME QUESTIONS IRENE ASKS JULIE:

• Why did you initially experience rejection from your birth mother?
• How do the ways we deal with our brokenness determine the people we become and the course of our lives? 
• How do those who help us champion our struggles coax us into developing a blueprint for identity and belonging?
• Why do you believe it is important to seek support or counseling to help us heal? 
• How have you found your relationship with your sister and your writing to be healing salves since your husband transitioned?

WATCH THE EPISODE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbWFw9Bvoeg&list=PL7judgDzhkAWmfyB5r5WgFD6ahombBvoh