Please join us as we talk with Lorraine Dusky, author of Hole in My Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of Adoption, as well as the book Birthmark and many other books and articles. Lorraine was the first mother to come forward and publicly talk about her experience with loss to adoption during the height of the baby scoop era. Lorraine has been a vocal advocate of adoptee rights and unrestricted access to birth certificates for over fifty years. Her books can be found at bookstores and can also be ordered online at sites like Amazon

Amazon.com: Hole in My Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of Adoption eBook : Dusky, Lorraine: Kindle Store

Lynn Grubb can be found online at

Mentioned in the episode:

Saving Our Sisters

Roe v Wade:

Dobbs Decision:

Alitos draft opinion: Read Justice Alito's initial draft abortion opinion which would overturn Roe v. Wade - POLITICO

Safe Haven Baby Boxes: legal abandonment boxes leased in some states from the Safe Haven Baby Box company, whic h profits from infants being anonymously deposited. For more information, visit Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes

Florence Fisher/ ALMA, Bastard Nation:

Turnaway Study:

Reunion with a Grave: the experience that many adoptees have, learning the identities of family members only after those relatives have died.

Birth Index: Every county in the United States has some mechanism for collecting and maintaining birth records, as do most countries. They may have different names, but serve the same purpose. Some birth indices are public information, others are not.

The FOG (Fear, Obligation and Guilt) This term is not exclusive to adopted people. This is a good article by Derek Grimm that talks about his experience. I would expand the definition to include not just seperation from mother, but from our entire extended family.

AB 1302: AB 1302 is a Mommy May I bill being touted as progress for adoptees, when the bill is actually discriminatory and with create additional layers of trauma for adoptees in a state that is already incredibly callous about adoptee rights. Here is a good article discussing the bill by Greg Luce of AdopteesUnited.org Please let California legislators know that you oppose AB 1302, and ask that the sponsor amend to make this a clean bill.

Disclaimer: the hosts and our guest are not lawyers, or therapists or religious gurus. All opinions expressed are just that-opinions.

If you are experiencing suicidal ideation, please reach out to someone for help. You are important. You matter. Below are some resources for people dealing with trauma, including sexual abuse.

RAINN | The nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization

Help Prevent Suicide | SAMHSA

Mental health support: get help - Canada.ca

Mental health services - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Crisis support - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (aihw.gov.au)

Mental health and wellbeing – where to get help | Ministry of Health NZ

Thank you for joining us as we spoke with Lorraine Dusky. Please read her book and share! Lorraine wrote the book in the hope that the information contained be accessible and useful not just to the public but also to educators, mental health professionals and legislators.

Hole in My Heart: Love and Loss in the Fault Lines of Adoption

Lorraine Dusky, Author | Website | Books | Interview | Quotes - AllAuthor

Please join us as we talk with Becca Dragon about her blog article The Cult of Adoption and the cultural adherence to the adoption narrative. Becca is an adoptee rights advocate, a writer and the creator of a series of Tiktok videos. She can be found at:

@GuaranteedHappy AdopteeTM

@mythsmisgivings on FB and IG

www.mythsmisgivingsmadness.wordpress.com

Lynn is The Adopted Genealogist on FB and IG

Mentioned in the show:

https://youtu.be/POVRCjgv0Io Adopted People Have Two Birth Certificates

https://www/tiktok.com/t/ZTRvKVEXd/ Space Dragons on Tiktok

Please join us as we speak with non-adoptee and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Andrea Coates, who is also a DNA search angel and adoptee advocate. Andrea is a therapist with Greenhouse Counseling. 

Adoption Therapy | Counseling at The Green House | Indianapolis Indiana Kentucky Texas Massachusetts Wisconsin (greenhouseindy.com)

Lynn Grubb can be found on social media as The Adopted Genealogist. 

The Adoption Experience | a podcast by Lynn Grubb (podbean.com)

Mentioned in the podcast:

Cult Expert Steven Hassan's Freedom of Mind Resource Center

The Baby Scoop Era: Unwed Mothers, Infant Adoption and Forced Surrender: Wilson-Buterbaugh, Karen: 9780692345795: Amazon.com: Books

http://babyscoopera.com

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics (uaf.edu)

"I do not think that....the great majority of social workers (especially young, unmarried women) are competent to handle the problem of the unmarried mother and her child. A Masters Degree in Social Work does not always qualify a young woman to deal with the intricate problems of social behavior....an unwed mother must not be rushed into a decisions to give up her baby for adoption until every other avenue has been explored and every other door opened." ( in Solinger 1997) Dr Robert Barrett, the son of Crittenton home co-founder Dr Kate Waller Barrett, who became president of the Florence Crittenton homes after her death in 1925

National Mental Health Hotline | 866-903-3787

The thoughts and opinions expressed in the podcast are just that, thoughts and opinions. The host and their guests are not lawyers, therapists or religious gurus. 

Thank you for listening! Please take a moment to rate the show. We are always open to constructive criticism and feedback about the show. The host of The Adoption Files can be reached at [email protected]. 

Please join the hosts as they have a conversation with Greg Gentry about the beliefs and attitudes that inform the adoption narrative, and the almost cult-like belief that people have in that narrative. In this episode and in part 2, we discuss with Greg the (absence of) scriptural support for adoption.

Greg Gentry is a domestic adoptee. He has a Masters in Theological Studies

Lynn Grubb works in the legal field and as a volunteer with CASA. She is known as The Adopted Genealogist on FB and IG and her podcast can be found at:

The Adoption Experience | a podcast by Lynn Grubb (podbean.com)

Mentioned in the show:

ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) (cdc.gov)

Steven Hassan's BITE Model of Authoritarian Control - Freedom of Mind Resource Center

What is Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)? | CPTSDfoundation.org

Kathryn Joyce | The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption

Gregs suggested reading:

Paul Boyer, When Time Shall be no More

Bart Ehrman, Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millenium

Albert Schwertzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus

The host is not a lawyer or a therapist. The thoughts and opinions of the host and their guests are just that, thoughts and opinions. 

Join us as we discuss with our guests the attitudes and beliefs that influence the adoption narrative and the almost cultlike belief that people have in that narrative, no matter what adoptees may be saying about the flaws in adoption. Beliefs influence law, and until we can change the beliefs that underpin the practice of adoption, changing laws will be difficult. 

 Some resources mentioned in the show:

 Podcasts: A Little Bit Culty, Mark Vicente

Steven Hassan's BITE Model of Authoritarian Control - Freedom of Mind Resource Center

Kathryn Joyce | The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking, and the New Gospel of Adoption

Doctor Ramani – Take your life back. (doctor-ramani.com)

The Adoption Experience | a podcast by Lynn Grubb (podbean.com)

The host of the podcast is not a lawyer or a therapist. The thoughts and opinions of the hosts and their guests are just that:thoughts and opinions.