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

Pushpa Devi is an author and creative director whose work explores identity, belonging, courage, and the meaning of home. Born in India, she was adopted at age six and traveled from Calcutta to rural America in 1968 to join a family she had never met. English was her fourth language, and storytelling would later become her way of giving voice to the memories and emotions of that life-changing journey.

Pushpa firs...

Janice Jones was adopted in 1947 at age four-and-a-half months by charismatic doctor and surgeon, Ralph Beare, and his socialite wife, Lou, of Celina, Ohio. Jones grew up as a lonely, only, privileged child who found herself an outlier in her family and at school. While her adoption was no secret, discussing it was taboo. To be curious was to be ungrateful. When she was often reminded by those who admired her parents that she was a...

Bryan Post is a leading expert in child behavior, adoption trauma, and love-based parenting. A former foster child himself, Bryan has dedicated over two decades to helping families heal through connection, compassion, and regulation. He is the founder of Fear to Love, LLC, Bondify.ai, the Post Institute for Family-Centered Therapy, and the nonprofit Leaf Wraparound. His pioneering “Fear to Love Method” and the &ld...

Born in 1968 during the Baby Scoop Era, Laurie was placed in foster care after birth and adopted at six weeks old by a loving family who had already adopted two other children. Though deeply loved, she always wondered about her origins and where she came from. At age 25, Laurie began searching for her birth mother with the help of an intermediary. 

Her birth mother provided the name of the man she believed was Laurie’s b...

Elle is a baby-scoop-era domestic adoptee born in NYC in May of 1969. She was adopted 2 months later into what was supposed to be a stable, religious family. For as long as she could remember, she was aware that both she and her older brother were adopted, but the details ended there. It was understood that questions were not welcome regarding the story of their adoptions. 

Growing up, Elle always knew she was radically differ...

Mishelle: The name on her birth certificate was Baby Girl Powers. A name that meant nothing at the time—just a placeholder. But the powers she gained through adoption—the ones she had to build to survive everything that followed—became very real.

For years, she carried that strength without understanding its source. Strong, resilient… and still disconnected. Still alone.

It wasn’t until The Making of ...

Diane, an accomplished artist who has created work for most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area, was adopted in 1964 by a couple who thought they were unable to have children. 8 months later, her brother, a biological child, was born. Diane’s parents told her when she was 4 years old that she was adopted. She was curious about her birth parents, yet it was the one subject in the family that could never be discussed. As ...

Adrian Burks is a filmmaker, writer, director, producer, and recovery professional with more than 15 years of experience telling authentic, human-centered stories. He began his career as an actor before transitioning into directing and producing films that explore identity, resilience, healing, and the human experience.

As a domestic adoptee who spent time in the foster care system, Adrian found strength and purpose through sports,...

Christy Gilvear is the creator of The Rooted Petal, a plant-centered brand where she shares the connection between houseplants, healing, and personal transformation. Through storytelling, plant care, and everyday moments in her indoor jungle, Christy invites people to slow down and reconnect with themselves and the natural world. Christy’s work is deeply shaped by her experience as an adoptee and her personal journey of ident...

Patsy Brooks-Tallant is a member of the Baby Scoop Era, the mid-20th-century period when societal pressures often forced unmarried or young mothers to surrender their infants for adoption. Born to a 21-year-old mother already raising four children, Patsy’s pregnancy stemmed from an affair while the mother’s military husband was overseas. To this day—over 63 years later—he believes Patsy is merely a family fr...

A lifelong resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Susan "Cricket" Fedorko (Grand Portage Band of Chippewa - Oijbwe) has contributed her writing to four anthologies on the subject of being adopted and has done numerous media interviews.

Her Chippewa - Oijbwe, birthmother, a famous supermodel, died in 1997, a short distance from Susan's home.

Suzie always knew she was adopted out at the early age of 11 months. She discovers at the age o...

Jackson TerKeurst is an author, speaker, and adoptee originally from Liberia, West Africa. At seven years old, he was separated from his family during the Liberian civil war and spent years living in an orphanage. At age 15, Jackson came to the United States as part of the African Children’s Choir, where his journey eventually led to his adoption by an American family. Despite arriving with limited formal education, he defied...

Although born and adopted in London in 1967, Anne-Grete is a Norwegian adoptee. Her birth mother happened to be there when she gave birth, and her adoptive dad was stationed at the Norwegian Embassy at the time. She had two siblings, both adopted from different cities in Norway. After moving around the world with her family, she came back to Norway for good when she was 16. After finishing her studies and moving between jobs and ho...

Samantha (Sam) Shields was born in San Francisco in 1970 and adopted from foster care as an infant. She grew up in nearby Napa knowing she was adopted, and provided many of the same platitudes as a lot of other adopted people: She wanted you to have a better life. She did what was best for you because she loved you. But Sam was certain something was wrong with her. Why else had she been placed for adoption? Failure to bon...

Originally from Chicago, Gabriel is an adult adoptee, street dancer, reconnecting P’urhépecha native, founder of MoFundamentals - the only foster-adoptee-led dance program in the U.S.- and artivist dedicated to highlighting the resiliency of the foster-adoptee community in Los Angeles. His work includes visibilizing powerful narratives rooted in foster care memory while honoring P’urhépecha and street ...

Born & adopted in 1970 as an infant, Lynn always knew she was adopted. Told the sweet stories of being chosen & special. Lynn’s story later revealed many secrets & lies. Lynn grew up in a middle-class family with both parents, teachers & a brother 8 years older, biological to her adoptive parents. The secret revealed at 16 yrs old was that this was a kinship adoption & she’d known her birth mother he...

Mary Lynn was born in March of 1966 and spent her first ten months in foster care before being adopted and brought to Pittsburgh as an infant. Her foster mother later sent a heartfelt letter to her adoptive parents, carefully recording early milestones—first steps, first words, favorite foods—clear signs that Mary Lynn was well loved from the very beginning. Still, one question s...

Adopted as an infant by a naval officer and his wife during the Baby Scoop Era, Diane Wheaton has always heard conflicting versions of the truth of her origins — but it’s not until she is forty-seven years old that she begins to search for her biological family in earnest. Amid search and reunion, however, Diane’s adoptive parents become ill — and while overseeing their care, she is told about a secret they ...

Jae Carelli was adopted from Korea at 5 months old and is the oldest of 5 children adopted from Korea through Holt International. They grew up in New Jersey and Cape Cod, and attended the Boston Conservatory at Berklee for their Bachelor's. They struggled with mental health issues as a child and young adult, which sent them on a journey, reckoning with their adoption, through multiple unsuccess...