Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

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

Through an audio drama, episodes of thought-provoking conversations and bonus recordings, the listening audience can learn some of the issues that the adoption community face from the perspective of the adoptee.

  1. 18 HRS AGO

    213. Astrid Castro: "Three Decades of Serving the Adoption Constellation"

    Astrid Castro is the founder and CEO of Adoption Mosaic, an adoptee-led, BIPOC woman-owned business that creates for and connects our adoption constellation community through adoptee-centered events, education courses, and consultations. For over three decades, Astrid has served the adoption constellation through a variety of innovative programing designed to highlight the adoptee experience. Prior to creating Adoption Mosaic, Astrid worked in both the private and public sectors of various adoption organizations such as the Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC), Holt International and Rocky Mountain Adoption Exchange, to name just a few. Astrid is aware of the benefits of post-adoption services for individuals and their families and seeks to bring these services to the adoption community. Her life-long interest in adoption is rooted in her own adoption at the age of four from Colombia (along with her older sister). Astrid has been in reunion since December 2012 with her birth family in Colombia. Website: https://adoptionmosaic.com/ Music by Corey Quinn

    1h 6m

  2. JAN 7

    212. Sharon Butler-Obazee: "Growing Intentional Families Together (GIFT)"

    Sharon Butler-Obazee, an adoptee, attended Cal State Hayward. She worked in human services and tenured with the insurance industry as a medical sales rep. After retirement, she became certified under the International Coaching Federation after attending Professional Christian Coaching before starting her coaching practice.   Her handle on social media was @adoptionclarity, where she encouraged an adoptee-centric philosophy. She became a Board Member of the Post Adoption Center for Education and Resources. She acquired Strengths-Based Coaching certification, where she encouraged families to support their strengths and encourage their children to use their strengths as well.   As an adoptee, she had a hard time investigating her heritage because she felt she did not deserve to know her background out of loyalty to adoptive parents.  After several years of therapy and adoptee support groups, she was able to break through her thinking to use Ancestry to complete her search.  She received a response in 48 hours and had a chance to meet her bio-dad before he passed. She has added Butler to her name in honor of her heritage. Website: https://giftfamilyservices.com/ Music by Corey Quinn

    51 min

  3. 2024-12-31

    211. A Review of 2024: "Happy New Year's Eve!"

    We encourage you to go to https://www.onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com/ and search the individuals mentioned in this episode to find their contributions/links. OBC to California Born Adoptees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erHylYLHqXg Music by Corey Quinn

    22 min

  4. 2024-12-24

    210. Jennifer Hiltebeitel: "Where Did I Come From, Who Do I Look Like and Why Did This Happen?"

    Original air date: November 1, 2022 Jennifer Hiltebeitel (HILL - ta - bite - el) was adopted from foster care as a preschooler and grew up to be a fourth-grade teacher with a Master's degree in Multicultural Education.  She met members of her biological family between the ages of 17-21 and is honored to understand pieces of her story that were once missing.  She has been married to her husband Eric for 24 years - the person who taught her she was worthy of unconditional love. They have one daughter through birth who is in college and another daughter through international adoption who is in high school.  Her daughters have taught her how to love the way another needs to be loved and the value of caring for her own story first so she can parent with intentionality.  Jennifer currently volunteers at her church supporting other moms and mentoring teen girls. She works with The Adoption Connection and is an Enneagram coach - a job that combines her love of learning, teaching and relationships. If you are interested in discovering the Enneagram as a tool to help you process your adoption story email Jennifer at jhiltebeitel@outlook.com to set up your first coaching session or schedule a free 30-minute consultation with her at https://calendly.com/jhiltebeitel/free-consult?month=2022-11 to see if you would benefit from Enneagram coaching. Books referenced: "The Road Back To You" by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile "The Journey Toward Wholeness" by Suzanne Stabile "The Path Between Us" by Suzanne Stabile "The Story of You; An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self" by Ian Morgan Cron Music by Corey Quinn

    58 min

  5. 2024-12-17

    209. Natasha Tripplett: "THE BLUE PICKUP and JUNETEENTH IS"

    Natasha Tripplett, a Jewish-Jamaican American author, lives in Northern California where she writes from a tree house perched in a sycamore tree. As a baby, Natasha was adopted into a Dutch, Christian family. Growing up on Vancouver Island in Canada, she was acutely aware that she was different from her family; this did not keep her from integrating all the pieces of her identity. Natasha’s multicultural background has allowed her to flow seamlessly through different cultures while bridging gaps that typically divide people. Natasha has her masters degree in social work and practiced in the field of adoptions. She has counseled families, adoptees, and children in foster care. She desires to help adoptees and those in foster care integrate their identity into one cohesive narrative. She has been published in various online magazines. Natasha is a children’s book author. Her titles include THE BLUE PICKUP and JUNETEENTH IS. Her forthcoming picture book, PLANTED WITH LOVE - a foster care story, will be released on March 11, 2025. She is represented by Caryn Wiseman of Andrea Brown Literary Agency and her picture books are published by HarperCollins, Chronicle Books and WaterBrook. Natasha bubbles with excitement over antiques, chocolate, coffee on the front porch, and cozy movie nights in front of the fireplace with her husband and four children. Website: NatashaBooks.com Music by Corey Quinn

    1h 2m

  6. 2024-12-10

    208. Lisa MM Butler: "As The Crow Flies"

    Lisa MM Butler is a Black (biracial), US domestic, transracial adoptee and former foster youth. She is an artist, writer, advocate, community organizer, and library lover. Lisa is known, online, as the Adoptee Clown and shares her experiences as an adoptee both on her Instagram @theadopteeclown and on Substack as The Adoptee Clown Diaries. She serves on the Board of VOICES, a BIPOC Adoptee Community 501(c)3 organization and is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer at CASA for Children in Multnomah, Washington, Columbia & Tillamook (OR) Counties. Lisa lives in the PNW with her hubs, three-legged dog and rotund cat.  Links: https://butlerl.substack.com/ https://www.instagram.com/theadopteeclown/ Music by Corey Quinn

    59 min

  7. 2024-12-03

    207. Anita Garber: "A Transracial Adoptee, Author and Poet"

    Original Air Date: 11/22/22 Anita is a passionate, creative, transracial adoptee. Adopted with her identical twin sister, she grew up on a chicken farm with five siblings and considers her faith and family to be most important to her. She has a bachelor's degree in Social Work and is presently pursuing her Master's degree in Social work and a Certificate in Expressive Arts. When she isn't engaged in coursework or academic activities, you can almost always find her grabbing a bite with friends or working on her first book, to be released in 2023.  Music by Corey Quinn

    1h 4m

  8. 2024-11-26

    206. Jill Mann: "A Team Member of BIPOC Adoptees"

    Jill Mann is a transracial, transnational Korean adoptee. She is an artist, musician, and writer, and a member of the BIPOC Adoptees team. She also works on the BIPOC Adoptees documentary project as editor, animator, and producer. She is also on the board of Asian Heritage Association, a local organization based in McMinnville, Oregon. Website: https://www.bipocadoptees.org/ IG: @pandamonium25 Music by Corey Quinn

    43 min
See All (200)

About

Through an audio drama, episodes of thought-provoking conversations and bonus recordings, the listening audience can learn some of the issues that the adoption community face from the perspective of the adoptee.

Information

  • Creator
    Jennifer Dyan Ghoston
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    200
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 Jennifer Dyan Ghoston
  • Show Website
    Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

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