Defining Diego

The Binge
  • 0.0 (0)
  • RELATIONSHIPS
  • WEEKLY SERIES
Defining Diego

Unlock All Episodes. All at Once. All Ad-Free

139,00 CZK/month or 999,00 CZK/year

Defining Diego is the story of one Guatemalan adoptee and his mother, a reporter who documented their journey from his earliest steps, as they try to understand how international adoption boomed and busted, and what it all means for families like theirs, with feet in two worlds. When Laurie Stern set out to adopt a baby from Guatemala in 1999, she thought the process would be pretty straightforward. Lots of people were doing it. But the adoption was held up just as she went to Guatemala to get her son, Diego. That began a journey of discovery. What unfolds is the story of why international adoption peaked — and then collapsed — in Guatemala. It is also the story of how Diego, now 24, learned to be a Maya man with deep roots both in his birth village and Minnesota, where he still lives. Now, Diego has questions about his adoption, too — like why tiny Guatemala was such a popular choice for many adoptive parents in the U.S. and Europe in the early 2000s. As one of more than 50,000 Guatemalan adoptees, Diego’s still figuring out what it means to be Guatemalan, American, indigenous Tzutujil, and an adoptee raised by white parents in St. Paul, Minnesota. At its heart, Defining Diego is a deeply personal narrative: of a mother and son grappling with big questions about identity and health, and the meaning of home and family. Using 20+ years of the family’s archive recordings, we hear Diego grow up — and begin his own journey of self-discovery Defining Diego is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Defining Diego show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

See All
  1. Defining Diego | 1. My Two Mothers

    EPISODE 1

    Defining Diego | 1. My Two Mothers

    It’s 1999, and reporter Laurie Stern wants to adopt a child with her husband. At the time, international adoption seems pretty straightforward — Laurie wants a baby, and there are babies who need parents. But once she arrives in Guatemala City to meet a five-month old boy named Diego, she realizes that nothing about adopting a baby from Guatemala is that simple. 23 years later, Diego’s an adult, and he has questions of his own. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    43 min
  2. Defining Diego | 2. Where I'm From

    EPISODE 2

    Defining Diego | 2. Where I'm From

    Laurie takes three-year-old Diego back to Guatemala for the first time since his adoption. While Diego bonds with his birth mother Isabel, Laurie starts talking with birth mothers all over the country. Many are young, live in poverty, or are survivors of the Guatemalan civil war.  Despite how much adoption costs for families in the U.S., Laurie begins to realize how little birth mothers receive in exchange. Meanwhile, Diego is growing up as an indigenous Mayan kid in St. Paul, Minnesota — loving hockey, hating Spanish lessons, and navigating what it means to have family in two places. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    43 min
  3. Defining Diego | 3. Baby Boom

    EPISODE 3

    Defining Diego | 3. Baby Boom

    Adoption has become a booming industry — the price is soaring, and Guatemala has become a top exporter of babies for adoption, second only to China. But when making families becomes secondary to making money, the cost to Guatemalan birth mothers is incalculable — and babies are treated more like products than people. Meanwhile, on a trip back to his birth village, six-year-old Diego receives tragic news — and Laurie and her husband Dan face a tough decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    40 min
  4. Defining Diego | 4. The Fall of International Adoption

    EPISODE 4

    Defining Diego | 4. The Fall of International Adoption

    The international adoption racket is surging — and it’s gotten way out of control. All over the world, ugly stories begin to surface: of stolen children, shady adoption lawyers, and birth mothers pressured to give up their children. So in 2008, under increasing pressure from human rights activists, the Guatemalan government shuts the whole thing down. And on a trip to Guatemala, Diego’s curiosity is sparked by seeing a photograph of his birth father for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    38 min
  5. Defining Diego | 5. When Everything Changed

    EPISODE 5

    Defining Diego | 5. When Everything Changed

    When Diego turns 12, he’s diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and his entire world turns inside out. The family goes into survival mode. Sick and angry Diego acts out — and Laurie and Dan struggle with how to parent him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    44 min
  6. Defining Diego | 6. Resist and Release

    EPISODE 6

    Defining Diego | 6. Resist and Release

    We hear from a family whose adoption was in-progress when the Guatemalan government shut everything down. A few years after his fateful diagnosis, Diego is a surly teenager. The family’s figuring out a way forward. Laurie takes Diego back to Guatemala, where he learns about the meanings behind his birth names — Xicay and Petzey. Diego asks Isabel more questions about his birth father, Cristobal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    45 min
  7. Defining Diego | 7. What's On Paper

    EPISODE 7

    Defining Diego | 7. What's On Paper

    It’s 2022, and Diego has a mission: to reclaim his Guatemalan citizenship. But on the ground in Guatemala City, he finds that his identity as an adoptee is still complicated, even 23 years later. Diego asks his birth mother if he can meet his birth father, Cristobal — but it’s unclear if that will actually happen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    49 min
  8. Defining Diego | 8. Becoming Aa Tiko’

    EPISODE 8

    Defining Diego | 8. Becoming Aa Tiko’

    A birth family reunion in 2022 helps Diego piece together more parts of his identity, but it also sparks new questions that he struggles to process — especially as he and Laurie grapple with what it means to take a baby from one culture and raise him in another. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    42 min

  9. EPISODE 9 BONUS

    Defining Diego | What Brought Me Here

    Aa Tiko' takes us on a journey through Guatemalan history — from the Spanish invasion to the rise of the banana industry and eventually the Guatemalan Civil War — to understand how indigenous communities have resisted oppression again and again. And we see Dolores not as translator but as storyteller, sharing her own family’s history and her hopes for Aa Tiko'. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    25 min

  10. EPISODE 10 BONUS

    Defining Diego | Adoptee Voices

    Aa Tiko' travels to a meet up of Guatemalan adoptees in Washington D.C., though he’s a little unsure of what he’ll find there. He talks to three different adoptees from two different continents about their lives, and how they manage to live in two worlds. While hesitant at first, Aa Tiko' begins to see himself as part of the larger adoptee community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    34 min
See All Season 2 (10)

Trailers

Shows with Subscription Benefits

  • Karen Falasca last saw her 15 year old sister Denise on July 14, 1969, when they parted ways not far from their Bergen County home. The next day, Denise’s body was found strangled next to a cemetery. For almost 50 years, Karen searched for her sister's killer. In Denise Didn’t Come Home, host Anthony Scalia joins her in her search and discovers an unexpected truth. Smoke Screen is now The Binge Cases - new name, same home for thrilling true crime stories. Denise Didn't Come Home is the latest series from The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, all ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the The Binge Cases show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

    • 5.0 (1)
    • TRUE CRIME

  • The “Female Bernie Madoff.” The “Anna Delvey of the OC.” Slot Whisperer. Lady Mafia. SaraKing is a woman of many monikers. But who is she really? Veteran reporter Michele McPhee takes us into Sara’s world to detail her rise and impossible fall in this riveting behind-the-scenes look at a master of deception. Sara is a glorified loan shark swimming in the murky waters of fast money and shady deals in Orange County. Did she blow 10 million dollars of other people’s money? Or does the world, according to her, have it all wrong? Witnessed is now The Binge Crimes - new name, same home for thrilling true crime stories. Lady Mafia is the latest series from The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, all ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of The Binge Crimes show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts.

    • 5.0 (1)
    • TRUE CRIME

  • Deadly Cure is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Deadly Cure show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • TRUE CRIME

  • Night Shift is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Night Shift show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • TRUE CRIME

  • For eight years, Megan Hess ran Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in the small town of Montrose, Colorado. She promised clients discounts on normally expensive cremations, a seeming kindness in a town where many are poor. But in the back of the funeral home, Megan’s elderly mother Shirley was actually dismembering the dead. And then Megan was selling the body parts – heads, torsos, legs – to companies that claim to do medical research. The families who trusted Megan –- they had no idea what she was really up to. When they came to pick up the ashes of their loved ones, they instead received a mixture of ashes of various people. They had no idea of their betrayal until some received a strange phonecall from the FBI. Megan and Shirley were body brokers, trading on a dark network where people buy and sell bodies. What exactly were the two women after? Who was really buying those stolen bodies, and why? Body Brokers is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Body Brokers show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. A Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

    • 0.0 (0)
    • TRUE CRIME

  • For ten years, a serial arsonist terrorized Southern California, burning down businesses in broad daylight. Four people were murdered. Then, a manuscript for a novel led investigators to the last person they would have ever suspected. Firebug is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Firebug show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. A Truth Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts."

    • 0.0 (0)
    • TRUE CRIME

Unlock All Episodes. All at Once. All Ad-Free

139,00 CZK/month or 999,00 CZK/year

View Subscription FAQs

Hosts & Guests

About

Defining Diego is the story of one Guatemalan adoptee and his mother, a reporter who documented their journey from his earliest steps, as they try to understand how international adoption boomed and busted, and what it all means for families like theirs, with feet in two worlds. When Laurie Stern set out to adopt a baby from Guatemala in 1999, she thought the process would be pretty straightforward. Lots of people were doing it. But the adoption was held up just as she went to Guatemala to get her son, Diego. That began a journey of discovery. What unfolds is the story of why international adoption peaked — and then collapsed — in Guatemala. It is also the story of how Diego, now 24, learned to be a Maya man with deep roots both in his birth village and Minnesota, where he still lives. Now, Diego has questions about his adoption, too — like why tiny Guatemala was such a popular choice for many adoptive parents in the U.S. and Europe in the early 2000s. As one of more than 50,000 Guatemalan adoptees, Diego’s still figuring out what it means to be Guatemalan, American, indigenous Tzutujil, and an adoptee raised by white parents in St. Paul, Minnesota. At its heart, Defining Diego is a deeply personal narrative: of a mother and son grappling with big questions about identity and health, and the meaning of home and family. Using 20+ years of the family’s archive recordings, we hear Diego grow up — and begin his own journey of self-discovery Defining Diego is part of The Binge - subscribe to listen to all episodes, all at once, ad-free right now. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Follow The Binge Crimes and The Binge Cases wherever you get your podcasts to get new stories on the first of the month, every month. Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Defining Diego show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. A Sony Music Entertainment production. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts.

Information

  • Channel
    The Binge
  • Creator
    Somethin' Else / Sony Music Entertainment
  • Episodes
    32
  • Seasons
    2
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Somethin' Else
  • Provider
    Pod Sub LLC

More From The Binge

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada