Erica Babino talks with Greg about Roe v. Wade, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in adoptee rights, plus what an adoptee rights retreat could bring and do for the community. 

Erica Babino is New York born and Texas-adopted. She has a long history in the adoptee rights movement, including as former legislative director of the American Adoption Congress and as a current board member with Adoptees United Inc. She currently oversees equity and inclusion work at a private educational institution in Portland. Erica is a consultant to numerous organizations on organizational issues of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. She is also the author of Rolling Into Peace, a children's book that explores mediation and conflict resolution using a stimulating and visionary approach that is logical and relatable to children. Another book in the series is forthcoming.

 

A conversation with biologist and climate scientist Sandra Steingraber, about adoption, cancer, and queerness. Dr. Sandra Steingraber is a rockstar in her field, related to her research, writing, lecturing, and activism on issues related to chemical pollutants and environmental dangers in our communities, including fracking.

But she's also an adopted person, and Greg talks with her about her lived experience as an adoptee within the context of all of her communities, including academia, science, cancer survivor, and, more recently, the world of adoptee rights, particularly her identity as a queer adoptee.

Sandra Steingraber is also the subject of the documentary Unfractured as well as the acclaimed author of numerous books, articles, and essays, including:

• Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment;
• Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood;
• Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis

She also has a large following on Twitter, where she posts on issues of adoption and environmental science and climate justice.

Like what you hear? Support Adoptees United Inc. and its programming, including this podcast, by making a tax-deductible donation at https://adopteesunited.org/donate/.

Vermont is on the precipice of history as an unrestricted equal rights bill is poised to become law. And Louisiana is on the same track. 

Greg talks with many of the advocates who are making history in Vermont and the Northeast, including Ellie Lane, Rebecca Dragon, Bek Henson, Annette O'Connell and Claudia Corrigan D'Arcy (plus a shout out to Mary King, who couldn't be with us as we talked about Vermont, equal rights, and when we will have our next round of beer together). Greg also talks with Elise Lewis about her and others' advocacy efforts in Louisiana, plus we have a rundown on other bills, including a quick update on the Adoptee Citizenship Act in Congress.

Follow legislative actions on the Adoptees United legislative page, where we track both federal and state legislation that impacts adoptees across the country.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Adoptees United, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to equality for all adopted people. And be sure to sign up for our What Next newsletter so we can keep you informed.

Most adoptees know who you are talking about when you say the name Lynelle. As in Lynelle Long, who has been a quiet and consistent powerhouse in working to secure adoptee rights globally, for all adoptees.

I talk with Lynelle about her long experience, her work with adoptees across the globe, and about her own experiences as an advocate and adoptee.

You can find more information about her and her organization, Intercountry Adoptee Voices, at the ICAV website. And if you are an an intercountry adoptee you can join the ICAV group on Facebook. More information about Lynelle is also available here. If you like our podcast, consider supporting us with a tax-deductible financial contribution at https://adopteesunited.org/donate. And sign up for the What Next newsletter at https://adopteesunited.org/whatnext.

What if you are switched at birth---and then adopted? How do you unravel all the legal threads of adoption to get to the truth, if not reconstruct relationships that may have been created from the wrong information and records? Greg talks with Minnesota-born adoptee Diane Bazella about discovering a truth about the records of her birth and adoption that has left her reeling--- and has compelled her to seek legal help.

Sign up for the What Next Newsletter at https://adopteesunited.org/whatnext. And help Adoptees United continue to produce these podcasts by contributing a tax-deductible donation at https://adopteesunited.org/donate. 

Do bad bills ever go good? Rarely, if ever. But that may change with Vermont this session, as House Bill 629 is being redrafted and is expected to be cleaned up, all through the efforts of local and national advocates, including the Vermont Adoptee Rights Working Group.

Greg talks to Rebekah Henson, Ellie Lane, Rebecca Dragon, and Mary Anna King about their efforts and work in Vermont, about the New England Adoptee Rights Coalition, and about working to educate legislators about adoptee rights and original birth records.

Get more information about the New England Adoptee Rights Coalition here, as well as the Vermont Adoptee Rights Working Group here. And you can watch the latest testimony in the Vermont House Judiciary Committee on its YouTube channel here, including live testimony on March 9 for House Bill 629.

Greg talks with Claire McGettrick and Mari Steed about Ireland's history of adoption and original birth records---which have always been public records---and the decades-long fight for Irish-born adopted people to secure the right to obtain all records related to their own identities and history.

You can read more about this issue and Claire and Mari's work at Adoption Rights Alliance, which is also a partner in the rights-based research work of the CLANN Project.

And check out Claire and Mari's (and others') recent book, Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries: A Campaign for Justice, which provides "an overview of the social, cultural and political contexts of institutional survivor activism, the Irish State's response culminating in the McAleese Report, and the formation of the Justice for Magdalenes campaign, a volunteer-run survivor advocacy group."

Greg travels to Wisconsin for a legislative hearing and meets Diana Higgenbottom Anagnostopoulos and other advocates, legislative staffers, and legislators. Diana's remarkable story is highlighted in this week's episode, and we talk about the documentary film being produced about her life, the hard work of showing up for adoptee rights advocacy, and what it takes to keep moving forward in the face of adversity. Plus, what she means by the three-egg omelette of adoption.

Keep our show going! Please consider making a contribution, which is tax-deductible, at https://adopteesunited.org/donate/. Plus, get show notes and the What Next newsletter at https://adopteesunited.org/whatnext/.

Extended interview session with Shelise Gieseke in which we talk mental health resources, advocacy, Adoption Mosaic programming, and Greg's mom. Enjoy.

What could the adoptee rights movement do if it had infinite money? We work to answer this question with Shelise Gieseke of Adoption Mosaic, and we predictably end up discussing all sorts of other issues within the adoptee rights community. You can find more information about Shelise and her work with Adoption Mosaic at https://adoptionmosaic.com. And listen to another recent interview with Shelise on the Janchi Show, a podcast "about, by and for Korean adoptees."