Voices of Adoption

Donna Pope
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

Voices of Adoption amplifies authentic stories from across the adoption triad - birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families - along with adoption service providers. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and her co-host Nathan Gwilliam, founder & former CEO of Adoption.com, create a safe space for honest conversations about the complexities of adoption. Birth parents share their journeys of love, loss, and healing. Adoptees discuss identity, belonging, and their lived experiences. Adoptive families open up about challenges and beautiful moments. Adoption service providers offer insights from their professional experience supporting families throughout the process. Each episode bridges different perspectives within the adoption community, helping listeners understand that every adoption story is unique yet connected by common threads of resilience and hope. These conversations don't shy away from difficult emotions or complex questions. Instead, they honor the full spectrum of adoption experiences with empathy and respect. Join us for stories that educate, inspire understanding, and remind us that every voice in the adoption community matters.

  1. Jun 5

    What Nobody Tells You About Being a Birth Father (with Jason Coombs)

    Birth father Jason Coombs carries a story most birth fathers never get to tell. At twenty-six, after four felony charges and a substance use disorder he could not shake, he learned he was going to be a father. His first reaction was to disappear. What happened over the next eighteen years became one of the closest open adoption relationships in the country. In this episode of Voices of Adoption with host Donna Pope, Jason shares what birth fathers carry that the adoption world rarely names, and the choices that turned his son's birth into the catalyst for seventeen years of sobriety. A Pregnancy Test on the Doorknob The news came in a text message from a friend, not from Nathan's birth mom herself. The pregnancy test was hanging on Jason's apartment doorknob when he got home. Jason walks through the manila envelope of felony charges that arrived months later, the years of street drugs, and the denial that kept him from accepting responsibility for the child he knew was his. The Hospital Letter That Changed Everything Standing at the nursery glass watching his newborn son fight to breathe on oxygen, Jason saw his own life clearly for the first time. He went downstairs, grabbed a legal pad, and wrote Nathan a letter promising to become the kind of father his son could be proud of. That promise unlocked the deepest internal motivation he had ever felt and started the journey toward sobriety. What Makes Open Adoption Actually Work Jason credits Nathan's birth mom and the adoptive Martin family for the choices that built what they have today. Polaroids in the mail. Soccer game invitations. Boundaries that kept everyone safe. He explains why strong fences and open hearts work together, why birth father involvement is possible when conditions allow it, and why his story is heart breakingly rare among the birth fathers in his son's adoptive family. Birth Fathers Deserve a Voice in Adoption Seventeen years sober, Jason now leads Brick House Recovery and uses his voice to advocate for birth fathers who have been silenced, shamed, or written off. He teaches the three elements of hope he discovered through Nathan's birth, visualizing the goal, seeing the path, and believing you have what it takes. His message to the adoption community is direct. Birth fathers love their children. Birth fathers carry pain too. Birth fathers deserve to be heard. Listen to Jason Coombs' full conversation with Donna Pope on Voices of Adoption and discover what becomes possible when a birth father chooses to show up. Download Your FREE Guide to Adoption at VoicesofAdoption.org. Like, share, and subscribe to spread the word. Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption on your favorite platform Website: http://www.VoicesOfAdoption.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@voicesofadoptionshow Twitter/X: https://x.com/voices_adoption Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicesof_adoption Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577208399818 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@voices_of_adoption LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/voices-of-adoption Follow Nathan Gwilliam LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathangwilliam Follow Donna Pope LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-pope-41652ba Follow Jason Coombs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasondcoombs Follow Brick House Recovery Website: https://brickhouserecovery.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Getunhookedpodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brickhouserecovery

    33 min

  2. May 29

    When Your Child Chooses You Back

    Brian J Baker and Lachandra Baker made family happen three times over: Brian adopted Aujie at ten. Brian's father adopted Brian at twenty-one. Lachandra's father adopted her sister. When Your Child Chooses You Back explores how kinship adoption, blended families, and interracial marriage taught them what family truly means. When Love Needs Legal Permission For Brian, adoption came late. His biological father was absent. His adoptive father was there. At twenty-one, that father asked: can I legally adopt you? Brian said yes. In the courtroom, the judge asked if he felt safe at home. They laughed. This wasn't about safety. It was about making permanent what was already true. Choosing Each Other at Ten Lachandra raised Aujie alone for six years. Then Brian entered their lives. When Aujie was ten, they sat down and asked: do you want me to officially adopt you? Do you understand what that means? Aujie said yes. Most adoptees never get asked. They had a choice. That choice changed everything about how family felt. Standing as Allies in an Interracial Marriage Brian and Lachandra built their life on one principle: nothing about us without us. When you affect someone's life, they're at the table. When they see broken basketball hoops in their neighborhood, Lachandra knocks on the door. Brian steps back. They let families own the gift. That's real allyship.

    42 min

  3. May 27

    We Got More Love Than We Bargained For

    Ashley and Eric Felton wanted to be parents. What stood between them and that goal was four rounds of IUI, a complication that ended fertility treatment permanently, and a hysterectomy the day after Christmas. In this episode of Voices of Adoption, host Donna Pope sits down with Ashley and Eric just 32 days after bringing home their son Colton to talk about the grief, the financial realities, and what changed their minds about open adoption. The $80,000 Reality Ashley and Eric thought adoption would cost $40,000. By the time Colton arrived, the total had climbed to $80,000. They sold a Mustang, refinanced their home twice, took out a HELOC, and worked grants and employer benefits to close the gap. Eric walks through every dollar and every decision with the kind of detail that will help any family build their own financial plan for adoption. A Village They Didn't Expect They started the process wanting a closed adoption. Education changed everything. Ashley describes what it felt like to fall in love with Colton's birth parents and why more people surrounding a child is never a complication. Every family considering adoption will find something in this conversation worth holding onto. Subscribe to Voices of Adoption wherever you listen to podcasts and visit VoicesofAdoption.org for stories, resources, and community from every corner of the adoption constellation. No matter where you are in your journey, you'll find people who understand. Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption wherever you listen: Website | YouTube | Twitter/X | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | LinkedIn Follow Nathan Gwilliam: LinkedIn Follow Donna Pope: LinkedIn Follow Ashley and Eric Felton: Hearts Connect

    46 min

  4. May 8

    What Adoptive Parents Get Wrong About Attachment (And How to Fix It)

    Adoptive parents pour everything into becoming parents. And then the real work begins. Dr. Hilary Claire, clinical psychologist and author of The Motherhood Reset, joins Donna Pope to untangle the specific emotional and psychological challenges adoptive families face long after placement day. This is a practical, science-grounded conversation for every parent trying to show up better. The 1-in-3 Rule and Why Perfection Is Not the Goal Research shows parents only need to meet their child's emotional needs about one third of the time to build secure attachment. Dr. Hilary Claire explains what secure versus insecure attachment actually looks like, how it develops, and why parents in the adoption community need to stop measuring themselves against an impossible standard. Getting it right enough, consistently enough, is the job. What Extreme Behaviors Are Really Telling You When children smear feces, destroy belongings, or rage against the people trying to love them, it is not manipulation. It is survival. Dr. Hilary Claire breaks down why children from foster care and trauma backgrounds repeat the same relational patterns, why they push hardest on the people they need most, and how adoptive parents can stay regulated and present even when the behavior feels personal. Self-Regulation, Nutrition, and the Parent Who Has to Go First Before a child can regulate, their parent has to. Dr. Hilary Claire walks through practical tools including breathing, body movement, emotional identification, and cold water on the face that help parents stay grounded in high-stakes moments. She also brings her background in nutritional and environmental medicine to the table: what parents and children eat directly affects how regulated they feel, how patiently they respond, and how securely they attach. You cannot pour from an empty cup. You cannot build a secure, trusting relationship with your child if your own nervous system is running on fumes. This episode gives adoptive parents a real, step-by-step framework for showing up consistently, not perfectly, for the children who need them most. Learn more about Dr. Hilary Claire at drhilaryclaire.com and catch her on the Wild + Well podcast. Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption on your favorite platform - Website: VoicesofAdoption.org | YouTube: @VoicesofAdoptionShow | Twitter/X: Voices_Adoption | Instagram: Voicesof_Adoption | Facebook: Voices of Adoption | TikTok: @Voices_of_Adoption | LinkedIn: @Voices-of-Adoption Follow Nathan Gwilliam - LinkedIn: @nathangwilliam Follow Donna Pope - LinkedIn: @donna-pope-41652ba Follow Dr Hilary Claire - Website: @drhilaryclaire | Instagram: @drhilaryclaire | Podcast: @wildandwellpodcast | Facebook: @drhilaryclaire

    51 min

  5. Apr 21

    The Childhood Promise That Built a Family of Nine (with Jessica Hanna)

    Foster mom of nine Jessica Hanna made a childhood promise: any child in her care would stay until a permanent solution existed. In this episode of Voices of Adoption with host Donna Pope, Jessica shares how she gave up a modeling career, adopted six children, and launched a nonprofit fighting for child welfare reform in Washington State. A Dark Staircase and a Three-Month-Old Baby At 21, Jessica walked into a drug house to visit her foster cousin's newborn son. She climbed a dimly lit spiral staircase and discovered a baby boy behind a door locked from the outside. He became her first son, Nick. Jessica walked away from a modeling contract, married her husband 40 days after meeting him, and began building a family. A Family Built Through Faith, Foster Care, and Adoption Within two years, Jessica was caring for four children under age three. Her family grew to include a preteen daughter bonded at a funeral, a respite baby who never left, a child adopted through Safe Families in Detroit, and a toddler who arrived after they told God they were done. Her philosophy: "We're all adopted. Some of us just had to make extra stops." Fostering Change in Washington State After returning from her husband's medical residency in Detroit, Jessica found Washington's 2021 Keeping Families Together Act (HB 1227) had shifted child welfare dangerously. She reactivated Fostering Change Washington, launched the Change the Story podcast, and fights for reforms addressing fentanyl exposure, placement disruption, and DCYF's failure to protect vulnerable kids. Download Your FREE Guide to Adoption at VoicesofAdoption.org. Like, share, and subscribe to spread the word. Listen to Jessica Hanna's full conversation with Donna Pope on Voices of Adoption and discover why one woman's childhood promise may be the blueprint for protecting more vulnerable children. Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption on your favorite platform - Website: VoicesofAdoption.org | YouTube: @VoicesofAdoptionShow | Twitter/X: Voices_Adoption | Instagram: Voicesof_Adoption | Facebook: Voices of Adoption | TikTok: @Voices_of_Adoption | LinkedIn: @Voices-of-Adoption Follow Nathan Gwilliam - LinkedIn: @nathangwilliam Follow Donna Pope - LinkedIn: @donna-pope-41652ba Follow Jessica Hanna - LinkedIn: @jessica-hanna-9aa6197b | Website: FosteringChangeWA.org | Instagram: @jessicahanna7751 | YouTube: @fosteringchangewa | Email: jessica@fosteringchangewa.com

    1h 2m

  6. Apr 15

    Trusting the Mystery on Your Path to Parenthood

    Spirit baby medium Kelly Ann Meehan has spent over a decade telling parents their child may already be reaching for them before arrival. In this episode of Voices of Adoption with host Donna Pope, Kelly shares how her lifelong intuitive abilities led her to build a practice rooted in clinical somatic psychology and spirit baby communication. Her practice blends clinical somatic psychology with spirit baby communication to support families through conception, loss, surrogacy, and adoption. A Solo Mother Who Changed the Frequency Kelly recounts the story of a solo mother overseas whose fertility interventions had failed. When she opened herself to fostering, a little boy arrived on the exact date of her previous birth loss. She did her inner work, adopted him fully, and then a second child was offered by a separate family. Do the Paperwork, Then Drop Into Your Heart Kelly encourages adoptive families to take every practical step the process requires but to always come back to themselves. She tells waiting parents to anchor in their hearts and feel the connection to the child who is coming, even when the outcome is uncertain. This Baby Has Two Mothers Donna shares her experience as an adoptive mother whose oldest child has a relationship with his biological mother and brother. Kelly responds with a perspective rarely heard outside the adoption community: this baby has two mothers, and there is nothing wrong with saying that. Listen to Kelly Ann Meehan's full conversation with Donna Pope on Voices of Adoption and learn why trusting the mystery may be the most grounding thing you do on your path to parenthood. Download Your FREE Guide to Adoption at VoicesofAdoption.org. Like, share, and subscribe to spread the word. Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption on your favorite platform - Website: VoicesofAdoption.org | YouTube: @VoicesofAdoptionShow | Twitter/X: Voices_Adoption | Instagram: Voicesof_Adoption | Facebook: Voices of Adoption | TikTok: @Voices_of_Adoption | LinkedIn: @Voices-of-Adoption Follow Nathan Gwilliam - LinkedIn: @nathangwilliam Follow Donna Pope - LinkedIn: @donna-pope-41652ba Follow Kelly Meehan - YouTube: @spiritbabycommunication | Website: NewEarthChildren.com | Instagram: @spiritbabymedium | Facebook: spiritbabymedium | Linktr.ee: @Kellyannmeehan EndFragment

    52 min

  7. Apr 7

    A Korean Adoptee Reclaiming Her Name

    Korean adoptee Anna Jinja Mather avoided her story for decades. At 47, she finally stopped running and started choosing herself. Her journey will change how you see belonging. In this episode of Voices of Adoption with host Donna Pope, Anna shares her story of being raised by a Norwegian family in Iowa after being adopted as an infant from Seoul, South Korea; she wanted nothing more than to blend in, be popular, and erase the visible differences that set her apart. A Breakup That Broke Everything Open At 47, a devastating relationship collapse sent Anna back to her home state to confront a question she had been dodging her entire life. As she began hosting a radio show and asking guests about their stories, she realized she had never asked herself those same questions. That reckoning changed everything. Naming the Unnamed Pain Anna describes how the inability to name her trauma kept her stuck in cycles of people-pleasing, walking on eggshells, and attaching her identity to partners who represented everything she wished she could be. Once she named her pain as an adoptee, the patterns started to make sense, and the healing began. Choosing Yourself Is the Real Adoption Anna's message to fellow adoptees is direct and specific. Stop waiting for someone else to validate your worth. Stop earning your place. You are adoptable, lovable, and enough, not because of what you do, but because you exist. Her novel Adopting Grace and her podcast The Anna Jinja Show both carry this message forward through story and song. Listen to Anna Jinja Mather's full conversation with Donna Pope on Voices of Adoption and discover why choosing yourself may be the most important adoption of all. Download Your FREE Guide to Adoption at VoicesofAdoption.org. Like, share, and subscribe to spread the word. Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption on your favorite platform - Website: VoicesofAdoption.org | YouTube: @VoicesofAdoptionShow | Twitter/X: Voices_Adoption | Instagram: Voicesof_Adoption | Facebook: Voices of Adoption | TikTok: @Voices_of_Adoption | LinkedIn: @Voices-of-Adoption Follow Nathan Gwilliam - LinkedIn: @nathangwilliam Follow Donna Pope - LinkedIn: @donna-pope-41652ba Follow Anna Jinja Mather - LinkedIn: @Anna-Jinja-Mather-5440794 | Podcast: AnnaJinja.com | Instagram: @AnnaJinjaMagnusson | Facebook: AnnaJinja.Mather

    43 min

  8. Mar 24

    Adoption Preferences and Being Honest About Your Limits

    What if the key to a successful adoption match was simply being yourself? Libby and Cory Rhoads share their adoption journey, sharing their beliefs in creating an authentic profile book and building an open relationship with their daughter Penny's birth mom. A 24-hour Matching In this episode of Voices of Adoption, Voices of Adoption, host Donna Pope sits down with Libby Rhoads (Chief of Learning and Outreach at the United States Botanic Garden) and her husband Cory to share their complete adoption journey, starting their journey which began with fertility challenges and to matching with their daughter Penny's birth mother in under 24 hours. Authentic Profiles and Honest Preferences Libby and Cory explain what sets their adoption profile book apart from the rest, including candid photos, personal interests like Harry Potter and their dog, and a refusal to present a polished but inauthentic version of themselves. They also open up about the emotional weight of setting adoption preferences and the internal tension of wanting to help every child while being realistic about what they could support as a family. Open Adoption and Community Connection The couple describes how their ongoing relationship with Penny's birth mother has enriched their family, including annual FaceTime calls, regular updates through the Heart to Heart app, and a photo of her birth mom in Penny's room. They also talk about the value of finding an adoptive parent community in the DC area and how those connections have become a lasting source of support. If you are considering adoption and want practical guidance on building an authentic profile, navigating the emotional side of preferences, and creating an open adoption that benefits everyone involved, this episode delivers the insights you need to take your next step with confidence. #Adoption #AdoptiveParents #OpenAdoption #AdoptionProfile #AdoptionAdvice #AdoptionCommunity #AdoptionJourney #DomesticAdoption #AdoptionStory #HeartToHeartAdoptions #VoicesOfAdoption #AdoptionSupport #BirthMom #AdoptionMatching #AdoptionPreferences #FertilityToAdoption #AdoptionProfileBook #AdoptionWaitTimes #AdoptiveFamily #DCFamilies Follow or Subscribe to Voices of Adoption on your favorite platform - Website: VoicesofAdoption.org | YouTube: @VoicesofAdoptionShow | Twitter/X: Voices_Adoption | Instagram: Voicesof_Adoption | Facebook: Voices of Adoption | TikTok: @Voices_of_Adoption | LinkedIn: @Voices-of-Adoption Follow Nathan Gwilliam - LinkedIn: @nathangwilliam Follow Donna Pope - LinkedIn: @donna-pope-41652ba Follow Libby Rhoads - LinkedIn: @Libby-Rhoads | Profile: Libby-Rhoads

    27 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Voices of Adoption amplifies authentic stories from across the adoption triad - birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families - along with adoption service providers. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and her co-host Nathan Gwilliam, founder & former CEO of Adoption.com, create a safe space for honest conversations about the complexities of adoption. Birth parents share their journeys of love, loss, and healing. Adoptees discuss identity, belonging, and their lived experiences. Adoptive families open up about challenges and beautiful moments. Adoption service providers offer insights from their professional experience supporting families throughout the process. Each episode bridges different perspectives within the adoption community, helping listeners understand that every adoption story is unique yet connected by common threads of resilience and hope. These conversations don't shy away from difficult emotions or complex questions. Instead, they honor the full spectrum of adoption experiences with empathy and respect. Join us for stories that educate, inspire understanding, and remind us that every voice in the adoption community matters.

Information

  • Creator
    Donna Pope
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright © 2025 Voices of Adopton. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Voices of Adoption