Open Adoption Project

In this episode, Nate and Kim share their story of adopting their son, and their experiences regarding special needs and adoption, including building open adoption relationships with birth parents who may have special needs.

Derek J. Williams is an adoption attorney in Utah. In this episode, he shares legal and ethical guidelines for the adoption community to consider. Derek discusses the importance of making ethical and educated decisions in adoption. He talks about the most common legal questions he is asked and shares insights and suggestions for the adoption community through a legal lens. An additional resource Derek suggested, particularly for those looking for attorneys well-versed in adoption across the United States is AAAA, which is the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys.

This week on the podcast we are excited to share an interview with Kaytlin, a birth mom. Kaytlin wants to help empower women to make the best decisions for themselves as they weigh their options. We hope you enjoy hearing from her and her unique perspectives and story this week.

This week on the podcast we hear from teen and child adoptees. We hear from adoptees who have different kinds of adoptions and different feelings about their experiences. We hope we can always prioritize listening to adoptees, and we hope you enjoy our special holiday episode. In this episode, our oldest child moderates as the interviewer for eight different adoptee kids and teens. We are so thankful for all of them sharing some of their feelings with us in this episode.

This week we're so excited to hear from Kim Perry again. Kim is an adoption professional and a licensed social worker, as well as the mother of two children who were adopted from Ecuador. Kim shares about the process of adopting her daughters, and advice for adoptive parents about helping children address trauma and other challenges that stem from adoption. She talks about embracing our children's cultures and heritages. She discusses her family’s experience becoming a transracial family and the struggles of children facing racism. She also talks about special needs adoption and older child adoption and shares her thoughts on how we as an adoption community can better rally around and support adoptees.

How do you strengthen your relationship with your partner when going through infertility? In this episode we hear advice from a panel of individuals who experience infertility and are at different points in their journeys. They share their perspectives on how to navigate challenges when struggling and give advice with to those who are struggling with infertility.

Katie, an adoptee and a birth mom of two, shares her story while relating the challenges she’s faced and the highs and lows in her adoption journey.

Cathy, a birth mom, shares her story of placing her daughter for adoption and eventually forming a very open adoption relationship with her and her adoptive parents. Cathy talks about letting love guide in relationships and how her family has supported her in the ups and downs of her journey.

Follow Cathy on Instagram @chasingcrossnos

In this episode, we talk to a fourth-year medical student, Jeremy Stone, about medical information regarding NAS and other in-utero drug exposure. Jeremy started an informational website, adoptionmeded.com, as a resource for hopeful adoptive parents looking for reliable information when making decisions about prospective adoption situations.

Welcome back to the Open Adoption Project! We kick off Season 2 with an interview with Emily, who shares her personal adoption stories as both an adoptee and an adoptive mom. We loved hearing Emily’s story and thoughts and are excited to be back for another season of the Open Adoption Project.

Bone Marrow Donation: bethematch.org