Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories

Louise Browne & Sarah Reinhardt
  • 4.8 (97)
  • PARENTING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories Podcast

Two adult adoptees, Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne, delve into all things adoption - from their perspectives as adult adoptees. Each season Sarah and Louise recap a chapter from a book centered on adoption and then interview a guest.  Sarah and Louise come out of the 'fog' in real-time through Seasons One and Two and are advocating for change in the adoption industry. They want to give voice to all adoptees. Adoptee stories are needed to reframe the narrative around adoption.Sarah and Louise, two former business partners who had a successful ice cream truck in Los Angeles, team up again - this time in frank and honest conversations about all things adoption from the adoptee perspective. Both were adopted shortly after birth, but they had very different experiences. These will be intimate conversations, but also fun - because Sarah and Louise know how to lighten things up and have a good time. They also have an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a subject with anyone who crosses their path - so conversations will take many turns. 

  1. Lea: Late Reunion Brings Love and Connection

    4 DAYS AGO

    Lea: Late Reunion Brings Love and Connection

    Lea is an adoptee born at the end of the Baby Scoop era, 1970. She was born and raised in the city where she currently lives with her family. She knew from a young age that she was an adopted, a "chosen baby". She was always proud to say she was adopted and would challenge classmates when asked about her "real parents". Lea believes that she was raised by her "real" parents and does not refer to them as her adoptive parents. Lea stood out from her family at an ea...

    55 min
  2. Patti: The Girl With Three Birthdays

    SEP 3

    Patti: The Girl With Three Birthdays

    Patti Eddington is a newspaper and magazine journalist whose favorite job ever was interviewing famous authors who came through town on book tours. She never dreamed of writing about her life because she was too busy helping build her husband’s veterinary practice, caring for her animal-obsessed daughter—whose favorite childhood toy was an inflatable tick—and learning to tap dance. Then fate, and a DNA test, led her to a story she felt compelled to tell. Today, the mid-century modern design e...

    1h 3m
  3. Kathleen: A Reunion Full of Surprises

    AUG 27

    Kathleen: A Reunion Full of Surprises

    Kathleen was born in 1968 in Northern California. Her birth mother relinquished her for adoption immediately upon birth, and Kathleen was then adopted by a loving family who already had a 3-year-old adopted son. When Kathleen was 22 years old she found her birth mother. Thirty years later she learned that her birth father was an enforcer for the Hells Angels and was shot and killed when Kathleen was seven years old.She also learned that she has at least seven sisters and one brother on h...

    1h 10m
  4. Gaynor: An Adoptee Finds Resilience

    AUG 20

    Gaynor: An Adoptee Finds Resilience

    Gaynor was born in a mother-and-baby home and spent the first six weeks of life there before being adopted in the same town of birth. Despite a challenging childhood with an adoptive mother who exhibited narcissistic tendencies, Gaynor persevered through an unhappy adoption experience. At the age of 31, after becoming a parent, Gaynor reconnected with their birth family. This reunion, spanning over 30 years, has been a remarkable success, with Gaynor finding a true sense of belonging and love...

    50 min
  5. Aje: Finding Her Voice and Facing Hard Truths

    AUG 13

    Aje: Finding Her Voice and Facing Hard Truths

    Adopted at birth, Ajé loved sharing her adoption story throughout her childhood. She always had a feeling that she had been wanted by her birth parents, and was a tad obsessed with discovering where, and who, she came from. Around age 9, good, old-fashioned snooping led her to a document with clues about her birth parents and the person she would have been if they had kept her. She had no way of knowing that document would later lead to an unexpected, serendipitous, [absolutely impossible] re...

    1h 28m
  6. Angela: An Early Reunion Led to Belonging

    AUG 6

    Angela: An Early Reunion Led to Belonging

    Angela was born in Nebraska in 1979 and adopted at 3 days old. She grew up in a family that came with many complexities and issues, and she struggled to feel content with not knowing and being with her first family. At 16, she was able to reunite with her birth mother and half-siblings in person and has been in reunion ever since. Throughout the years, she's met more of her first family and has gone through the many challenges of reunion and the search for her birth father. Angela now resides...

    59 min
  7. Magali: A Stranger in Two Countries

    JUL 30

    Magali: A Stranger in Two Countries

    Magali was born in Sri Lanka in 1992 and adopted by French parents when she was 2 months old. She grew up in a small town in France, a mostly white area, and struggled to identify with both the French and Sri Lankan cultures. She found her birth family during her first visit to Sri Lanka when she was 16 years old. She has 4 older siblings that stay in the family. The language was a real barrier and she had to communicate with the help of a guide. Because learning Sinhalese at that ...

    1h 2m
  8. Jeff: The Problem and the Solution

    JUL 23

    Jeff: The Problem and the Solution

    Jeff is an adoptee born in 1964 in Salt Lake City Utah. He is the middle of 4 children (an older sister and younger twins, a boy and a girl) who were also adopted. He grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and always knew that he was adopted. He has been able to experience living in the Middle East and working in a variety of cultures in countries throughout the Middle East as well as Mexico and the United States.Jeff is the founder of a non-profit organization that has helped homeless and unders...

    1h 13m
See All (131)

4.8
out of 5
97 Ratings

About

Two adult adoptees, Sarah Reinhardt and Louise Browne, delve into all things adoption - from their perspectives as adult adoptees. Each season Sarah and Louise recap a chapter from a book centered on adoption and then interview a guest.  Sarah and Louise come out of the 'fog' in real-time through Seasons One and Two and are advocating for change in the adoption industry. They want to give voice to all adoptees. Adoptee stories are needed to reframe the narrative around adoption.Sarah and Louise, two former business partners who had a successful ice cream truck in Los Angeles, team up again - this time in frank and honest conversations about all things adoption from the adoptee perspective. Both were adopted shortly after birth, but they had very different experiences. These will be intimate conversations, but also fun - because Sarah and Louise know how to lighten things up and have a good time. They also have an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a subject with anyone who crosses their path - so conversations will take many turns. 

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