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

Relinquished at birth, Mindy was the only girl and the oldest child in her family, learning at age five that she had been adopted. Her childhood was marked by serious anxiety and feelings of being an outsider while also losing herself in the role she fulfilled as “Mindy”.

Finding her maternal bio-family in her mid-thirties helped her to solve some of the mystery behind her abandonment. After the tragic passing of...

Laura was born to teen parents in South Carolina in May 1984 and was adopted through Catholic Charities by a wonderful and loving couple who could not have biological children. An adopted brother joined the family seven years later.  She always knew she was adopted, and while adoption was spoken about openly and positively, it was understood by both siblings that searching for biological family would not be supported.

The birth of ...

Alana Godin, born in 1966 in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an adoptee raised in a family whose mother, after three sons, had longed for a daughter. Growing up, Alana struggled to fit the role imagined for her but remained deeply grateful to her adoptive parents, whose support later allowed her to keep and raise her own child.

As a teenager, Alana had to navigate adulthood early, becoming pregnant and marrying young, but it was th...

Annette started her life as part of the baby scoop era.  Annette’s first six days of life were spent in the hospital while she awaited a decision by her biological mother about whether or not she should keep her baby.  Annette was placed with a foster mother under the name of Sara.

It is challenging to obtain birth records from the State of Wisconsin, but Annette was able to obtain some of the records of her first three months of l...

Jane’s adoptive parents had only two weeks' notice of her arrival! At twelve days old, Jane was taken to her new family who lived on the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England.

The children’s social worker was not best pleased when a file landed on her desk informing her of a privately arranged adoption, a ‘fait accompli’ of which she was openly very critical.

The year was 1964, and Jane reports always having felt ...

Mary is a Baby Scoop Era adoptee born in 1965. She was not adopted until she was almost 8 months old, after being moved to a couple of foster homes. She was told she wasn’t “doing well” at the first, likely because they had too many children there. Raised in a small town by a conservative Catholic family with her brother—also adopted two years later—Mary and her brother always knew they were adopted.

She always felt a sense of disc...

Jodi is a Baby Scoop Era adoptee, born in Los Angeles, California, in 1966. For her, adoption has never been a single event but a lifelong journey of searching, questioning, and seeking understanding. She is now in reunion with her father, and both share a deep connection as artists. Jodi lives in Los Angeles with her family. Her story reflects the complexities of identity, family, and belonging, and she continues to honor both the...

Mike Knox is a Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian, writer, actor, and performing artist whose work blends personal storytelling with observational humor. Originally from Pasadena, California, he was adopted at birth from White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles.

Mike Knox is the author of the books Vivien’s Rain, written about his daughter’s experience with epilepsy, and Straight Fish, and Isla Vista Halloween.

In addition to stand-...

Recinda is an artist, writer, and TikTok creator. The chasm between Recinda now and
the baby dropped off at an orphanage based in Beirut, Lebanon, is large. She was profoundly
changed by her adoption from an American family stationed in Izmir, Turkey, after a seven-year
span of life at the orphanage. She had to become adaptive to a new language, an American
way of living, as well as the many schools and locations that are an elemen...

Stephanie was born in the Chicago suburbs in June 1983 and adopted 4 days after birth. Her birth mother was 19 years old and was an employee of an attorney associate of her adoptive father's.  Through a private adoption arranged by the attorney, Stephanie was placed into a loving adoptive family with two biological children (and later one adopted sister and one biological brother), both of whom were affected by Canavan Disease and ...

Douglas Shaver was born at Florence Crittenton's Home for Unwed Mothers in Kansas City in 1968. He was adopted five weeks after birth. Though adopted into a loving and supportive family, he struggled with identity and with his place in the world. During middle school, his family moved to Saudi Arabia.  It was during that time in the Middle East that he developed a passion and understanding of different cultures and the communities ...

Elena S. Hall is a Russian adoptee, author, social worker, and the voice behind the Instagram page @ThroughAdoptedEyes. She is passionate about her faith, finding joy amidst grief, and loves ice cream! Adopted at a year and a half into a family that was always open about adoption, Elena brings a unique blend of personal experience and professional insight to her work. She began writing Through Adopted Eyes in 2016—a collection of m...

Charlotte Angeles was conceived during an affair that her biological father was having with her biological mother. She was born in Pasadena, CA, in 1987, and was held in her adoptive parents’ arms that same day.  She knew from an early age that she was adopted - that her birth mother was very young and didn’t have the means to raise her alone - and her adoptive parents always offered a safe space to ask questions. But Charlotte did...

Award-winning author and journalist Kim Orendor was adopted at three months old. Her parents told her about the day she joined their family, along with other stories at bedtime. Kim continues to share her own story with others and has authored an adoption-themed young adult novel. She lives in Northern California.

Kim's YA fiction story "To Whom It May Concern" with an adoption theme, won the NextGen INDIE gold medal.

Sea...

Tim Perdion was born in 1969 and relinquished for adoption at birth. Around two months later, he was adopted into a loving family in Ohio. Though surrounded by care and support, he carried a quiet ache beneath the surface—a longing to understand his identity and a sense of not fully belonging. These hidden wounds, rooted in adoption, shame, and early emotional neglect, followed him into adulthood.

At 46, Tim reunited with both of h...

Dr. Abigail Hasberry is an author, speaker, and educator. She is also a certified executive
leadership coach, licensed clinical marriage and family therapist, and holds a school
superintendent certification. With a background in education as a former teacher and
founding school principal, she has experience in private, traditional public, and charter
schools.

Dr. Hasberry holds a Bachelor of Science degree in African American studi...

Susie DeTitta was born in California in 1965 and adopted at three months old by a family unable
to have children due to infertility. Her parents had previously adopted two other children. Shortly
after her adoption, the family relocated to Arizona, where Susie spent her childhood and later
attended university.

While in college, a spontaneous call with a friend to the adoption agency proved to be a dead
end in her search for her bio...

Born in Long Island in 1966, Dave Verrone’s life began with separation — just five days after birth, he was placed with a foster family. For the next 14 months, he bonded deeply with his foster parents and three siblings. In October 1967, he joined the Verrone family, adjusting to his third mother, his father, and a new sister, also adopted.

Childhood brought both love and challenge. Though his adoptive parents cared for him deeply...

Karen was adopted domestically at birth, and found by her birth family at 29, and entered reunion soon after. The experience of merging her past and present was both transformational and complex, bringing up emotions and questions she hadn’t fully confronted before. During this time, Karen sought therapy but struggled to find someone who truly understood the adoptee experience. Many available therapists were adoptive parents—well-i...