Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland Jennifer Dyan Ghoston

Becca Flatt is a Mixed Race, Black and white, closed, domestic infant, interracial adoptee. Becca’s biological family and adoptive family mirror each other; however, Becca, being mixed race, does not share the racial identity of either set of her parents. Becca Graduated from The University of Southern California with her Master’s in social work and a concentration in mental health in 2014. Becca provides mental health treatment to transracial, interracial, and same-race adoptees of color in Oregon. 
Websites: https://www.mendedheart.org/ https://adoptionmosaic.com/
Instagram: @mending_the_adopted_heart
Adoptee Consciousness Model: https://intercountryadopteevoices.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/adoptee-consciousness-model.pdf
https://redthreadbroken.com/2022/06/23/out-of-the-fog-and-into-consciousness-a-model-of-adoptee-awareness/
Music by Corey Quinn

Rebecca Wellington currently teaches in the School of Education at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.  She holds a doctorate in education history from the University of Washington.  Rebecca’s career in education started 26 years ago on the ocean, sailing around the world on a traditionally rigged tall ship. Through this two-year global circumnavigation Rebecca trained for a US Coast guard captain’s license and went on to work in outdoor education, which sparked her love of teaching.  Rebecca was driven to write a history of adoption from the perspective of an adoptee and to honor the memory of her holder sister and the truth of brave women everywhere.  Her proudest accomplishment is mothering her two daughters, Maria and Victoria.  She and her husband and daughters live in Seattle, Washington.
Website: https://www.rebeccawellington.com/
ADOPTEE REMEMBRANCE DAY IS OCTOBER 30th
Music by Corey Quinn

Louise Browne is a baby scoop-era adoptee from the United States living in California. She Co-Hosts a podcast, Adoption: The Making of Me, that helps to get adoptees' stories out in the world to help change the narrative around adoption. 
Hosting Adoption: the Making of Me has brought questions and past feelings to the surface about why she had always felt the way she did. Sharing this journey of discovery with the adopted community has proven to be a life-changing experience.
Louise enjoys spending time with her grown son, her husband, family, and friends, hikes, enjoys nature, and is working on writing her first novel and getting a children’s book published. 
Website: https://www.adoptionthemakingofme.com/
Music by Corey Quinn

Jennifer Poole was adopted as an infant in a closed adoption. She holds a Masters Degree in Interfaith Pastoral Counseling, where she wrote her thesis on “Openness in Adoption as an Opportunity for Spiritual Growth”. It was during this time, in 2001, that she initiated her reunion with her birth mother and later with her birth father. 
Passionate about supporting families, she is certified in Hand in Hand Parenting, Redirecting Children’s Behavior, the Enneagram, and Whole Person Design Life Coaching. Drawing from a large tool box which includes continuing education in Mindfulness, High Conflict Diversion, ADHD, ACES, Attachment Theory and Trauma Informed Care, Jennifer provides counseling and coaching to help families move from conflict to the connection they seek. 
She also works with Adoption Mosaic as a co-teacher and parenting consultant. As their adoptee outreach coordinator, she interviews adoptees to help find panelists for their “We the Experts” series. 
She currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband. Together they have 4 grown children.
Websites: https://www.feelmorelove.net/
https://adoptionmosaic.com/
Music by Corey Quinn

Edward Di Gangi is a returning guest.
Adopted at birth, Edward Di Gangi was born and raised in New York City. Although he knew for most of his life that he was adopted, it wasn’t until he approached his 70th birthday that he began to search for the identity of his birth mother. His journey and the many surprising discoveries he made as he searched are recounted in his memoir, The Gift Best Given. Edward and his wife now live in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He is a popular book club presenter and podcast guest. The Gift Best Given is his first full-length book.
In this episode,  Edward shares the research he continues to do in preparation for his next book, how he has come to better understand the birth mother’s experience, the month of May and how some things have not changed since 1948, the year he was born.
Website: https://www.digangiauthor.com/
Music by Corey Quinn

Heather G. Marshall is an adoptee, author, speaker, teacher, and traveler. Her short fiction has been published in a variety of journals, including Black Middens: New Writing Scotland, and Quarried, an anthology of the best of three decades of Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel. Her first novel, The Thorn Tree, released in 2014 (MP Publishing). When the Ocean Flies, Heather’s second novel (Vine Leaves Press), released in February 2024. Her TED talk, “Letting Go of Expectations,” centers around her adoption and reunion. In addition to writing, Heather is a mindfulness and yoga teacher and offers mindful writing classes and workshops for adoptees. Originally from Scotland, Heather emigrated to Ireland and then the US. She’s currently based in Massachusetts.
Website: heathergmarshall.com When the Ocean Flies
TEDx: "Letting go of Expectations" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meka3_pUVqc
Music by Corey Quinn