S4 #45 First Mom Katie

Fellow adoptee Lisa Elaine Scott reached out to come back to the podcast to give us all an update on her work on the film "All You Have is Love: Demand, Deception, and the Infant Adoption Industry". www.allyouhaveislove.com On June 14th there will be a fundraising event Lisa is hosting through Eventbrite where she will be showing some previously unseen footage, and have general discussion about the film. You can register to attend through Eventbrite. Minimum donation to attend is $10, but please give more if you can! She needs the support of our community! Additional links All You Have is Love Youtube Channel Saving Our Sisters Adoption Family Preservation Project

Katie is a mother of loss to adoption. When she found out she was pregnant she was doing ok, and a freak accident changed everything in an instant for her and her child. Listen as we discuss her story, her projects, and get to know each other. The Family Preservation Project TFPP on Facebook TFPP on Instagram TFPP on TikTok Saving Our Sisters Adoption All You Have is Love film project

**Trigger warning** We do talk about some triggering subjects such as sexual assault and child abuse, please be aware of that in case these subjects will trigger you. I had a delightful conversation with Brian an adoptee I met at the Untangling Our Roots Summit in Kentucky last year. He was the emcee at the 2024 summit which just happened in Denver last weekend! He is an actor and he writes plays. His solo show play "Blank" referred to the space on his original birth certificate where he didn't have a name. He performed it all around the country. Just before the pandemic hit he was supposed to premier his second play @atghostkingdom, but alas that was put to a stop when lock down happened, so he got creative again and turned it into a film he recorded on his iPhone! He showed that film at the summit last year, and I was so moved by it. I believe any adoptee can find something to relate to in it. I asked him about possibly doing a zoom event where we show the film, and do a Q & A with him after, (TBA). You can watch Brian's film @atghostkingdom here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/ghostkingdom He can be found on Facebook as Brian Stanton And Instagram @thebrianstanton @atghostkingdom If you are interested in being a guest on the podcast, please send me an email to [email protected]

Lori is a Jewish first mother who relinquished in the 1990s. Lori is also a speaker and the author of her book 'From Mistakes to Miracles: A Jewish birth mother's story of Redemption, Hope and Healing' You can find links to her social media, books, and articles on her website: https://loriprashkerthomas.com If you are interested in being a guest on the Conversations About Adoption podcast, email me with a very brief overview of your story [email protected]

Cynthia is a mental health clinician with 10 years of experience and a fellow adoptee. We had a great time talking despite a couple interruptions. Our stories are kind of parallel as we are both Gen X but raised by silent generation parents. Parents that teach you to stuff your emotions away, and definitely do not display the negative ones. I hope you enjoy this conversation! If you want to be on the podcast email me [email protected] And you can learn a little more about Cynthia at on her profile on Psychology today.

Please be advised with this episode there is a trigger warning. Alicia talks about domestic violence, rape, child abuse, infant loss, and more. If you are sensitive to these topics, please be advised and practice self-care when listening. She does jump right into it. Alicia was already the mother to one son and landed in a horribly abusive relationship. She lost one baby, and a short time later was pregnant again, this time with twins. While in a severe post-partum depression she reached out to an adoption agency thinking that might be the one way to keep her new babies safe.... She ended up being severely coerced. She ended up losing her boys to adoption. You can find Alicia on: Tiktok YouTube Linktree The other organizations I was talking about. https://concernedunitedbirthparents.org https://naapunited.org If you are interested in being a guest on the Conversations About Adoption podcast, email me with a very brief overview of your story ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠

Welcome to the 40th episode!!! It's heard to believe! In this episode I speak with Kristal who is also an adoptee. She lives in Canada with her husband and their three children. Her adoptive parents had sons and always wanted a little girl, and when Kristal was born she filled that space in their family. She has 2 adoptive brothers who are much older than her, she said it was almost like growing up with four parents. Her parents were very supportive regarding reunion, and you will have to watch the film to see exactly how supportive they were, and why. (avoiding spoilers) Kristal went on a journey to reunite with her indigenous roots and reconnect with her culture and took a film crew along with her resulting in 'Because She's adopted' Trailer You can find Kristal at the links below! Social Media: Instagram @becauseshesadopted Facebook @BecauseShesAdopted TikTok @becauseshesadopted YouTube @becauseshesadopted If you are interested in being a guest on the Conversations About Adoption podcast, email me with a very brief overview of your story ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠

Curt is a fellow baby scoop adoptee. We had a great time talking, and I enjoyed hearing his story. Here is a little bit about Curt in his own words. Quick bio    I was a very spirited youth.  I started a family at a very young age. I spent the majority of my life in Virginia. I have two daughters and two granddaughters. Currently I live in Las Vegas and have been here for almost nine years. I spend my free time working with a few different charities that I sit on the boards of. I have a love of hot rods and cool cars and I am in a few different clubs. This is my generic story.   My story is like many others and is very odd for me to even tell knowing what I know now. I feel like the deep voice narrator that knows the entire plot from the beginning. The odd part of that is the memory of not knowing and living with the fog of adoption so to speak.    Curt    Curt can be found on Facebook and Instagram.   If you are interested in being a guest on the Conversations About Adoption podcast, email me with a very brief overview of your story ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠

Jenny Trudeau is a mother of loss to adoption, having lost her child through standard coercive industry practices with an agency that was later closed for fraudulent adoptions. Jenny is a 23 year veteran to adoption loss and has studied the industry and its effects on mothers and children for 8 years. Jenny's passion for family preservation comes from her loss, the awareness of the loss of so many others, and the understanding of a toxic culture that sets up family failures in this way. The objectives of her organization include supporting children by facilitating partnerships with parents and reducing crisis-based decision-making for women facing unplanned pregnancies.  She currently lives outside of Charleston, SC with her husband, two younger children, and backyard chickens. Links! Www.parentspartnership.org  Facebook  LinkedIn page for Parents partnership If you are interested in being a guest on the Conversations About Adoption podcast, email me with a very brief overview of your story ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠

Welcome to 2024 and the beginning of season 4! Thank you for your patience while I took a break over the holidays. Hopefully in the coming weeks I will put up episodes with: a first mom starting another family preservation organization, an indigenous adoptee who made a film that should be released this year, a first mom from the UK, and many more. In this episode I had a conversation with Brad. He is a fellow baby scoop adoptee that I came across on TikTok. He will tell his story, and we talk about relationships, our attachments styles, came up with a fun new nick name for the town he grew up in, substance abuse, mental health and much more. You can find Brad on Tiktok here. https://www.tiktok.com/@mucifous If you are interested in being a guest on the Conversations About Adoption podcast, email me with a very brief overview of your story ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠