Once An Orphan

What's the real story behind Alexis Miranda Badger going missing? From the @Netflix documentary, Cathy Terkanian shares how she put her blood, sweat and tears into proving that her only daughter was murdered by her adoptive male figure. A rapist and predator, Dennis Bowman had a history of sexually assaulting little girls, even as young as 6 years old. Lying for years, Dennis literally got away with murder, that is until, Mrs. Terkanian felt her daughter's spirit and couldn't let up.

The state of Michigan placed Corey with a white family who adopted him. If that wasn't traumatic enough, they then removed Corey from the home, saying he should be with a Black family, and the Quinn's sued the state to regain custody while he went from home to home. At this point in his life, he says why it's necessary to completely detach himself from the Irish Catholic people he's always called "family." What do we know about trauma?

You may know him as Andre Farnell, but Andre Van Lun, has unbelievably defied all odds. Placed in foster care at 18 months with his new born brother, he has survived the worst of times. With the help of therapy, mentorships, conferences and several workshops, Mr. Van Lun put himself through an entire hollistic healing.

He shares with me his foster care experience and how life could have left him as a memory today, opposed to the positive figure and motivational speaker he has become. Listen to this amazing story and why Andre says we should focus on better, the name of his most recent publication.

Koko, @theblackadoptea and I spoke about her adoption story. She found her biological mother who wanted nothing to do with her, still leaving her with a million questions. Is it really too much to ask when you just want to know? But can we truly understand when the conception was the result of a sexual assault as a teenager? Koko open shares her story, which is how we heal each time we speak about it.

Young and looking for acceptance led Genesis Asiatic to a life of crime. After 23 years in society, he tells his story in his own words of why and how he chose this life and served a 23 year prison sentence. This is his story in his words.

At the tender age of 15, like most teens, Teela faced some challenging social issues, which caused her to have panic attacks. Not uncommon, right? Well, after a visit to the doctor, she was given a subscription for Xanax, and life began to spiral out of control.

Meet Teela, The Sober Entreprenuer.

Ms. Gabriela Hernandez survived a case of "I never saw it coming." We can also call it a case of "Who The Bleep Did I Marry? @investigationdiscovery

Telling her story shows how courageous and resilient she is. She didn't fall from the first hit, but it took more than 10 and she's still here. She loved him, forgave him, and leveled with him over and over. After beating her with a bat, he still wasn't done.

There's no way you can listen to this story from anyone else other than the victim herself.

You can watch this video on YouTube at Once An Orphan.

Author, Tammy Leavy, is a survivor. He wasn't her stepfather, but indeed, a monster and the man her mother married. Molested and raped in "every hole" of her body, she felt suicidal but found the strength to fight back physically and still has the scars to prove it.

After her mother suffered a work related injury, he knew he could take full advantage of every moment with Tammy because his wife was suffering from her own trauma.

This former fostered youth/adoptee got dealt cards from a hand no one could play. She, in fact, had to play, but how did she do it? How did she overcome one traumatic event after another? In her self written memoir titled, Everyone Will Know It Was God, Sana explains what led to these events and how she would overcome. It started at age 4, when she was being sex trafficked by her mother and grandmother

Imagine the man who replaced your father, assumed to be the one protecting you, also being the one who "groomed" you. He groomed his stepdaughter into becoming comfortable being molested, sodomized and raped. Stories like this...