Led By A Heartstring

This episode is dedicated to my absent father. He's done a lot for me even when he hasn't. Take a listen as I explore the 'father complex' coined by Freud and Jung (Daddy Issues, coined by millennials).I also read an open letter to my absent adoptive father.

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every episode, we will be one step closer to connecting with my birth family. You will also have a first-hand insight on the ...

It's been 4 years since I started this journey and we've come along way. But it's time to give it one last time.

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every episode, we will be one step closer to connecting with my birth family. You will also have a first-hand insight on the psyche of an adoptee and other issues surrounding adoption in Australia.

Find this project easily on socials @LedByAHeartstring on Instagram, @He...

This is your sign to slow down and take a break. In a world that doesn't sleep, it's easy to get caught up in it all. So, take a break. That's what I'm doing and I called the shots myself.

This hiatus also serves as a purpose to slow down, process and digest the episodes of my podcast that have been release in the last month, but also the last 30 episodes that have been release as a whole.

Don't be afraid to reach out for hel...

JOURNEY UPDATE: I've found a new address and a photo on Facebook that my body reacted to in a way in which is just knew this person is related to me.

Content Warning: This podcast contains strong themes that may trigger emotional distress to some listeners. If you or anyone you know are experiencing distress of any nature, please do not hesitate to find professional support.

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of ...

Anne is a current kinship carer in Queensland in 2022. She shares her experience as a carer and chats about the urgent need for Queenslanders and Australians to open up their hearts and homes to care for this country's most vulnerable children.

Content Warning: This podcast contains strong themes that may trigger emotional distress to some listeners. If you or anyone you know are experiencing distress of any nature, please do no...

A passionate advocate for adoption and an adoptee herself, Vicki understands all sides of adoption, from the good times to the struggles. Whilst living overseas in Fiji as an expat, Vicki fostered a child.

As her partner's business took them back to Australia Vicki heartbreakingly had to leave him in Fiji. Back in Australia, Vicki had numerous failed attempts at in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and natural conception, so she became an a...

Dara Read, author of 'We Love You Hundreds and Thousands' chats about her personal journey of reconnecting with her birth parents and how this led to her writing a vibrant children's picture book. We also chat about the special connection the book provided her and her birth family after the visit.

Content Warning: This podcast contains strong themes that may trigger emotional distress to some listeners. If you or anyone you know...

Can you believe it's Season 3?! It's been such a long time since we last spoke and a lot has happened. So I catch you up with the last couple of months in my life from winning a Bronze at the Australian Podcast Awards to finding new information that will lead me to my birth family.

Content Warning: This podcast contains strong themes that may trigger emotional distress to some listeners. If you or anyone you know are experiencin...

Jonah takes you back to listen to some iconic mosts of the podcast as we celebrate 1 Year of Led By A Heartstring!

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every episode, we will be one step closer to connecting with my birth family. You will also have a first-hand insight on the psyche of an adoptee and other issues surrounding adoption in Australia.

Find this project easily on socials @LedByAHeartstring on Instagram, ...

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every episode, we will be one step closer to connecting with my birth family. You will also have a first-hand insight on the psyche of an adoptee and other issues surrounding adoption in Australia.

Find this project easily on socials @LedByAHeartstring on Instagram, @HeartstringPod on Twitter and you can easily find the page on Facebook for other live updates as they happen.

Led ...

Joining me today to discuss Aaron, David and Emmett’s storyline in Australia’s longest running and one of the most famous TV soapies, Neighbours is Executive Producer, Jason Herbison. Jason also has personal and deep connections to adoption which we will chat about later in the episode, so stay tuned for that. 

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every episode, we will be one step closer to connecting with my birth...

During discussions with people in my support network, I came across the knowledge and learnings of how the brain connects and controls how your body reacts to certain events. These reactions form from very early ages that you may not even remember clearly as a memory. 

I wanted to delve into the topic of neuroscience as this genuinely interested me and made me wonder. I didn’t necessarily want to do this episode on my own, so I ...

We all face the birth lottery when we are welcomed to this world. We don’t get to choose the family we grow up with or where we are born or what colour our eyes are. I think most people in this world have dreams and ideas of how different their life would be growing up elsewhere. We are all in different socioeconomic regions with different benefits and downfalls. 

For adoptees, we can go through this lottery many times. Sometime...

Steph from Melbourne discusses the difficulties adoptees face if they aren't fully made aware of their birth culture or heritage isn't incorporated into the households they grow up in.

Growing up she was taunted and called names above her darker skin tone, but never really knew why. It wasn't until she was an adult that she completed a DNA test to find out her origins.

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every e...

Phoebe was adopted from an orphanage in war torn Vietnam - at just ten days old. When they returned to Australia, Phoebe’s parents found out she was cross-eyed and she required several operations over many years under the late Fred Hollows to correct her eyesight.

Phoebe is also an ambassador for Adopt Change Australia and Shake It Up Foundation. Listen as she describes what is was like growing up as an inter-country adoptee fro...

As an adoptee, we all have that scenario in our head that the search and reunion will have the perfect outcome, where all of those questions will be answered, the feelings will be mutually happy, internal wounds healed and our culture reconnected with us. We imagine it will be like those years spent apart never happened. For some that’s not so much the case. For me, I’ve found many obstacles and roadblocks in my search and I’m stil...

Subconsciously I have felt that my relationship with my adoptive mother Carol has changed over the last 6 months whilst searching for my birth mother. I’ve sort of felt a guilt, or an awkwardness form between us during this journey. It may and truly just be one-sided for me feeling this but there has been a shift in dynamics for myself. 

Carol returns to share her perspective on this last 6 months of the journey.

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Content Warning / Trigger Warning: Suicide, mental illness, substance abuse, addiction

LIFELINE 13 11 14

Throughout the closing months of 2020, Jonah was discovering a lot of information about his adoption and his past. Going into this journey, he felt like he was prepared for what was to come, however the news surrounding his conception rocked his world and Jonah found himself spiralling down into a dark mindset of suicidal thou...

Hello, welcome to Season 2 of Led By A Heartstring! Jonah shares his last 6 months of investigation to find his mother and how he wants to shift listeners focus away from his story and onto other adoptees experiences in Australia and New Zealand.

Subscribe and stick around, because by the end of every episode this season you will have a deeper insight on the psyche of an adoptee and other issues surrounding adoption in Australia...