Adoptees Crossing Lines
In Adoptees Crossing Lines, I expose the lies and harm of the adoption industry and family policing system. As a Black same-race adoptee reclaiming my story, I challenge systems that profit from family separation. This podcast is truth-telling, healing, and anger intertwined. If you're ready for raw, unfiltered conversations about adoptee trauma and dismantling harmful systems, join me on this journey of reclamation.
Episodes
In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira is joined by her editor, cinephile, and dear friend J Way. Together, they dive into how adoption narratives are portrayed in film and television, from tropes like the “grateful orphan” to more realistic depictions of systemic harm. J Way shares their experience as a transracial adoptee, the cultural erasure they endured, and the healing power of chosen family, storytelling, and visu...
In this solo episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira dives deep into the power and necessity of mutual aid. Drawing from personal reflection, historical examples like the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords, and global efforts from Sudan to Florida, this episode highlights how mutual aid has always been about survival. Zaira explores how mutual aid rejects systems of exploitation and centers community care as a form of resist...
Adoptee Storytelling & Film Advocacy
In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira sits down with Alexandra, a British and American domestic transracial adoptee who grew up in her birth country of Hong Kong. Alexandra is the festival director of the Adoptee Film Fest, a global in-person and online film festival amplifying adoptee-centered films by adoptee filmmakers. They discuss her journey of navigating identity, community...
Root Work and Resilience: The Fight for Black Families
In this episode of Adoptees Crossing Lines, Zaira sits down with Tamara and Tracey Robertson, sisters, healers, and advocates serving as Healers in Residence with Movement for Family Power. Together, they discuss their journey of resisting the harms of the family policing system, while centering Black birth traditions, ancestral wisdom, and community healing. From childhood foun...
In this episode, we explore the complexities of adoption, privilege, and the narratives that shape our understanding of family. Through personal stories and critical reflections, we unpack the ways in which adoption is often framed as an unquestionable good while overlooking the systemic issues at play. We discuss the intersection of race, class, and power in adoption, the impact on adoptees, and the importance of centering their v...
Keshia
The child welfare system is waging war on Black families, and Keshia Adeniyi-Dorsey is on the front lines. In this episode, she shares her journey from foster child to family defender, exposing the racist roots of CPS and the urgent need for change.
Keisha breaks down her tactics for protecting families during CPS investigations, from refusing home entry to shutting down fishing expeditions. Her suc...
Benjamin
Words matter. Especially when it comes to adoption. Benjamin Lundberg Torres Sanchez isn't just "adopted" - they were separated from their first family for 28 years.
In this episode, we unpack how the language we use shapes our understanding of adoption. Benjamin shares their journey of rejecting industry terminology and embracing more accurate descriptions of their experience.
We discuss how this sh...
Henry
What happens when a Black child is adopted into a white Mormon family?
The Mormon church silenced Henry's identity as a Black transracial adoptee, but he's done being quiet. From "colorblind" racism to the weight of forced gratitude, he exposes the ugly truth behind his adoption.
We explore the impact of media representation, the importance of acknowledging adoptee anger, and why abolishing the cu...
Fai Knudson
Fai Knudson grew up in a white, conservative town, always feeling different. As a biracial, transracial adoptee, Faye faced racism and isolation.
Leaving their hometown ignited a journey of self-discovery, leading to advocacy and therapy focused on adoptee mental health.
In this episode, Fai shares their powerful story, the challenges of being a transracial adoptee, and how they now he...
1 Year of No Contact
It's been 365 days since I cut ties with my adopters to protect myself.
A year of healing, self-discovery, and finding my voice.
In this episode, I share my no contact journey, the reasons behind my decision, the process of healing, and the freedom I’ve found.
Hear my story of setting boundaries, seeking safety, and reclaiming my identity.
What we discussed
Amanda Wallace
Amanda Wallace helps families powerfully stop Child Protective Services from stealing their children. In this episode she talk about how you can do it too, how her organization reunited 20+ families, and why we should abolish the belief that the CPS system should even exist.
Listen and let’s stop CPS.
What we discussed
(00:22) Who is Amanda Wallace?
(01:25) Why she wants to stop C...
Adoption is Not A Part Of God’s Plan
People who adopt say it’s God’s plan for them to adopt. But, they almost never say that God’s plan is for them NOT to have children. This is just one of the many ways people use religion to justify human trafficking.
I found out, through an archived article, that I was trafficked by the Church through the One Church, One Child movement which operates in 32 states.
...
Mila's Truth: Navigating Adoption, Liberation, and Community
The Church does an excellent job of silencing you if you oppose them. They’d even hire a marketing company to rebrand adoption so that their business as adoption middlemen can continue to thrive. But, it’s not just the Church. The dominant culture is to silence anyone who speaks up against adoption. To make them feel shame. To gaslight them. That was Mila Kon...
My Journey To Abolition
Every adult in my childhood has failed me, none of them did what they’re supposed to. Every part of the system failed me…it did exactly what it’s supposed to. The system kills children and breaks families, it must be abolished. In this episode, I share how I gradually evolved towards this deep belief starting from a school trip to juvie when I was just 10. I talk about my encounters with the...
Josh Lamers
Adoption is trauma. How do we help surviving children heal the wounds they’ve sustained from the child welfare system? Josh Lamers, a transracial adoptee, is public enemy #1 for child welfare agencies in Canada. He joins the show to discuss what adoption and child welfare are like in Canada; and how his organization, Collective of Child Welfare Survivors, advocates for child welfare survivors though add...
Adoptees & Community
Before I found other adoptees online I was lost. I wanted to know where I came from, and I wanted to know others like me. Most adoption communities center adoptive parents and foster parents. We are left out of the picture. This doesn’t make sense. This episode is a collection of my thoughts on this matter.
“One of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building commu...
Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System
It was when Alan arrived at a home with the cops to remove a child and heard his mother say “Charles, run, they're coming to take you and they're going to sell you to the white people” that he realized how the trauma of slavery cannot be disentangled from the trauma of family separation. It was in this moment that he realized the harm he’s done to m...
Unveiling Roots: The Journey of Gregory D. Luce, Attorney and Advocate for Adoptee Rights
Us adoptees have to pay thousands of dollars and jump through hoops to unseal our records. This robs us of autonomy, dignity, and equality. Gregory D. Luce is an attorney who helps adoptees all across the US go through this hurdle.
In this episode we discuss Greg’s personal adoption journey that made him so passionate...
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