What Next? The Adoptee Rights Podcast

Greg talks with Jennifer Kwon Dobbs and Ryan Gustafsson---two Korean-born transnational adoptees, scholars, and advocates---about their cases (and other cases) before the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Jennifer and Ryan discuss their own personal experiences as well as what is meant by truth and reconciliation, not only in a global context but more specifically in the context of problematic and illicit intercountry adoptions from Korea.

About Greg's Guests

Ryan Gustafsson is a researcher in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. Trained in continental philosophy (phenomenology) and social theory, they conduct research on Korean overseas adoption, transracial adoptee lived experiences, migration, and diaspora. Ryan is the co-founder of the Philosophies of Difference (PoD) group and the Korean Adoptee Adoption Research Network (KAARN), which organize open-to-public seminars and symposia. Their nonfiction writing has appeared in literary outlets including Sydney Review of Books, Liminal Magazine, Peril Magazine, Island Magazine, and others.

Born in Wonju, Republic of Korea, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs is the author of Interrogation Room (White Pine Press, 2018); Paper Pavilion (White Pine, 2007), winner of the White Pine Press Poetry Prize; and the chapbooks Notes from a Missing Person (Essay Press, 2015) and Necro Citizens (German/English edition, hochroth Verlag, 2019). Interrogation Room received mention in The New York Times, was praised by World Literature Today for “a vigorous restlessness,” and won the Association of Asian American Studies Award in Creative Writing: Poetry. She also co-translates Sámi poetry with poet-scholar Johanna Domokos, and their translation of Niillas Holmberg’s Juolgevuođđu, published as Underfoot (White Pine Press, 2022), received the American-Scandinavian Foundation’s Lief and Inger Sjöberg Prize. She is professor of English and Race, Ethnic, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at St. Olaf College and lives in Minnesota.

Additional Links/Resources

• The Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• Recent AP Report and Frontline Documentary: South Korea's Adoption Reckoning
• Danish Korean Rights Group (DKRG)
• Reports from the Netherlands, France, and Switzerland on Intercountry Adoption

Greg talks with Chelsey, a US-born adult adopted person who for years has been seeking to end her own adoption, and for good reason. They discuss her story and reasons, the various legal issues surrounding the rescission of an adoption, and the ongoing Adoptees United project that has led to a definition of terms and to a draft model bill that would establish a right as an adult to end your own adoption.

More information about the Rescission Project and its collective efforts are on Adoptees United. Greg's prior overview of the issue is on his law firm website, though efforts have progressed since he published the initial post a few years ago.

Support our work and conversations on the podcast by contributing to Adoptees United, a national nonprofit organization working to educate and empower adopted people and to challenge and change the dominant narrative of adoption.

Greg and CS talk with Korean-born and US transnational adoptee Kara Bos about her efforts to reclaim her Korean citizenship, lost to her when she was four years of age and adopted to the United States. Her efforts included the first successful paternity action in Korea to establish paternity with her Korean biological father.

The conversation is part of an Adoptees United event, Dual Citizenship for Transnational Adoptees, recorded on April 10, 2024, and available now on YouTube.

Follow and subscribe to What Next? The Adoptee Rights Podcast, and keep us going with a tax-deductible donation at adopteesunited.org/donate.

Greg speaks with Annette O'Connell and Shawna Hodgson about lobbying in state legislatures, plus other (kinda nutty) issues that pop up. As board members of Adoptees United and as advocates in New York and Texas, Annette and Shawna have years of experience in lobbying legislators on birth record bills. They talk about their approach, how hard it is to do this work, and what it may look like in the future.

This is the third installment of Legislative Boot Camp, a series of podcast episodes exploring and explaining how legislatures work as well as how to get a bill enacted (or killed), told within the context of adoptee rights.

Support the work of Donate to Adoptees United, which goes toward the making of our podcasts plus supports ongoing programming and projects.

A conversation with scholar, advocate, researcher and writer Gretchen Sisson, author of the recently published Relinquished: The Politics of Adoption and the Privilege of American Motherhood. This is the podcast version of our conversation we had before an online audience in March 2024. It has been slightly edited from that event.

What Next: The Adoptee Rights Podcast is a production of Adoptees United Inc., a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the equality of all adopted people. Gregory Luce is the host.

One of two episodes (the first with Ayana Smith-Kooiman) where Greg talks with legislative staffers. This time he sits down with Max Aulbach, the legislative director for Michigan Represetative Kristian Grant , whose district is in Grand Rapids. Max talks about his work, what works best (or not) in contacting legislative offices, and how he and his office works to support his boss. While we mention two pending bills there, the discussion is mostly about the ins and outs of working with legislative staff and trying to get a legislator's attention and support.

Part of the Legislative Bootcamp series, a set of intermittent episodes where we talk about the work of getting a bill enacted (or killing a bill when it goes bad).

Read more about the legislative work in Michigan currently, including the work of the Michigan Adoptee Rights Coalition.

We sit down with Ayana Smith-Kooiman, the legislative assistant to Sen. Erin Maye Quade in Minnesota. Ayana was the behind-the-scenes and front-desk staffer directly supporting Sen. Maye Quade's adoptee rights bill in 2023, ultimately getting it enacted. She's a Wisconsin-born adopted person, a Macalester College graduate, and a former advocacy fellow with Gender Justice in Minnesota. She talks about her work in the legislature as well as what does and doesn't work in advocacy.

More information about the enacted Minnesota legislation is here. The Minnesota Coalition for Adoption Reform was one of the organizations that had worked on the bill tirelessly for decades. Greg and Penelope Needham of MCAR also appeared on a podcast discussing the efforts to pass the new law: How to Succeed, Part 1.

Part 2 of a two-part interview with Astrid Castro, and we turn to the history of her work with Adoption Mosaic and the complications and joys of providing solid programming and events for adopted people---and allies, partners, and anyone impacted by adoption. We recommend listening to Part 1 before listening. Ciao!

Show Notes

Adoption Mosaic is a BIPOC woman owned, adoptee-led mission-driven business. With 30+ years of experience, its founders and leaders have created a robust, diverse community who want to see a future of more adoptee-centered and ethical adoption practices and critical thinking around adoption.

Upcoming Adoption Mosaic events and programming, including the We the Experts Series.

Greg talks with Astrid Castro, someone he's long wanted to have on the show. Astrid is a transracial transnational adoptee who was born in Colombia. She is also the longtime leader and current CEO of Oregon-based Adoption Mosaic, and has since 1990 provided programming, guidance, wisdom, and space to all people impacted by adoption, but with a particular focus and dedication to adopted people.  Part 1 of a two part interview, with Part 2 released simultaneously and covering Astrid's experience in running Adoption Mosaic.

Show Notes:

Adoption Mosaic is a BIPOC woman owned, adoptee-led mission-driven business. Its founders and leaders have created a robust, diverse community who want to see a future of more adoptee-centered and ethical adoption practices and critical thinking around adoption.

Upcoming Adoption Mosaic events and programming, including the We the Experts Series.

More widely known among adopted people as @stoweyvik on Twitter, Vicki is a transracial UK adoptee, army veteran, and host of the weekly Sunday Zoom chats with adoptees and Vicki's special guests.

Greg talks to her about her and her sibling's life in rural England and about her recent participation in the government's recent inquiry into forced adoptions that occurred in the UK between 1949 and 1976. You can connect with Vicki on Twitter at @stoweyvik, where she sends out links to her Sunday chats each week (when the sessions are being scheduled). More information about the Joint Human Rights Committee inquiry on the right to family life: adoption of children of unmarried women 1949-1976. The latest proceeding of the committee can be viewed here:

May 25, 2022. Witnesses: Nadhim Zahawi MP, Secretary of State, Department of Education; Sarah Jennings, Deputy Director of Adoption, Family Justice and Care Leavers, Department of Education

Support this podcast and the work of Adoptees United Inc. by making a tax-deductible donation at https://adopteesunited.org/donate/