Adoption Utah cuts through the confusion surrounding Utah's adoption system with real stories and expert guidance. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions, brings 25+ years of experience to every episode exploring what makes Utah America's premier adoption destination. Each episode reveals the cultural and demographic forces that set Utah apart through unique family structures and faith-based community support. Discover the statistics, stories, and surprising factors that create Utah's reputation as a "safe harbor" for adoption. Birth parents learn about their options while adoptive families navigate the process with confidence. This podcast provides insider perspectives that transform assumptions into understanding for anyone considering adoption, currently in the process, or supporting someone through this journey. Join the conversation that's changing how people think about adoption.
She was resting with an epidural when her heart started racing. By the time her husband returned with the nurse, she was in full cardiac arrest. In this episode of Adoption Utah, host Donna Pope sits down with Catherine Garrett, founder of the Birth Trauma Stories podcast, after a 1% chance of survival reshaped her family.
23 Jan 2026
Protecting Birth Mothers’ Choice in Adoption Ethics
In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, Lonn shares insights from decades of adoption law, explaining why ethical adoption begins with one core principle: a genuine choice for birth mothers. From contested cases that stretch on for years to courtroom moments that restore hope, he explains what keeps experienced attorneys committed to adoption work over a lifetime.
22 Nov 2025
How Adoption Transformed a Hesitant Dad into a Devoted Father
In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, Richard and Elizabeth share their seven-year journey from Richard's firm rejection of adoption to becoming passionate advocates for open relationships with birth families.
31 Oct 2025
Writing My Way Home: An Adoption Story of Love and Reunion
In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, adoptee and writer Dr. Liz DeBetta unpacks adoption through the lens of creative healing, sharing her lived experience from growing up in a closed adoption feeling emotionally overwhelmed and alone.
17 Oct 2025
Adopted and Loved: A Therapist’s Journey to Healing the Heart
In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, adoptee and licensed therapist Troy Love unpacks the complexity of adoption through his framework of six attachment wounds, sharing lived experience from being adopted at five days old into a family struggling with domestic violence.
5 Sept 2025
Birth Mother Rights and Open Adoption in Utah
In this episode of Adoption Utah with host Donna Pope, birth mother and advocate Lynea Krukiewicz unpacks Utah adoption through the lens of rights, privacy, and permanency described in the state’s legislative intent, sharing lived experience behind what those promises look like in practice. She recounts a semi open adoption that narrowed over time, the strain of routing contact through attorneys, and the emotional reality of reunion while processing grief during another pregnancy.
Action Steps
The conversation stays grounded in Utah policy questions, including a mother’s capacity to know her own mind while vulnerable and the best interest of the child as understood by the mother closest to the situation. Lynea argues women should be free to consider adoptive families beyond state lines rather than being landlocked by residence when seeking the right placement. She responds to coercion claims by insisting decisions belong to the mother and noting choices improve when basic needs and medical care are supported during the process.
Honoring Mothers
Drawing on work with the Utah Adoption Council, Lynea explains helping refine statutory wording and pushing for post placement care that asks birth mothers what was missing and fixes it in policy and practice. She highlights Utah-rooted support like Life After Placement and the Birth Mom Dinner that honor women with community, music, and a three course meal.
A Utah focused guide to adoption that elevates rights, choice, and respectful practice. Listen now and share with someone navigating adoption in Utah.
Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms:
Website: https://www.adoptionutah.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdoptionUtah
Twitter/X: https://x.com/adoptionutah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoptionutah/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/108160387/
Follow Donna Pope:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/donna-pope-41652ba/
Follow Lynea Krukiewicz
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lynea-krukiewicz-1b395285/
Website: https://www.lifeafterplacement.org/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterplacement
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeafterplacement/
Email: hi@lifeafterplacement.org
Follow Laraine Moon
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laraine-moon-11781059/
Follow A Act of Love Adoptions
Website: aactofloveadoptions.com
Facebook: facebook.com/aactoflove
Instagram: instagram.com/a_act_of_love
Twitter: twitter.com/ActofLoveAdopt
TikTok: tiktok.com/@actofloveadoptionsutah
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/a-act-of-love-adoptions
Pinterest: pinterest.com/aactoflove
YouTube: youtube.com/@actofloveadoptions
14 Aug 2025
Why Birth Mothers Choose Utah Families
In this second episode, Nathan Gwilliam continues interviewing Donna Pope, host of Adoption Utah, exploring what sets Utah apart as America's adoption destination.
What Makes Utah Unique
Discover the surprising statistics that make Utah families different - 3.1 people per household versus the national 2.6 average to 76% religious affiliation rates and number one economic outlook rankings for 18 consecutive years. These demographic advantages create ideal environments for adoption placement that birth mothers and adoptive families recognize immediately.
Faith and Safe Harbor
Donna shares Utah's transformation over 27 years toward adoption openness, including the moving story of an 80-year-old woman who still yearned to know her birth parents. Learn about the biggest controversies in Utah adoption, particularly the complex balance between birth mother and birth father rights when they disagree on adoption plans.
The discussion reveals Utah's vision as a "safe harbor" where birth mothers receive genuine support while adoptive families gain confidence in the process, supported by a faith-based community that provides practical assistance beyond religious affiliation.
Listen now, to understand the cultural and demographic forces that make Utah adoption extraordinary.
Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms:
Website: https://www.adoptionutah.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdoptionUtahX: https://x.com/adoptionutah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoptionutah/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/108160387/
Follow Donna Pope:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-pope-41652ba/
Follow Nathan Gwilliam:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathangwilliam/
14 Aug 2025
Why Utah Leads America In Adoption
In this pilot episode of Adoption Utah, discover the incredible journey of Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart to Heart Adoptions and your host for Adoption Utah.
Donna's Journey
With 27 years of experience in Utah's adoption landscape, Donna shares her transition from medical research at LDS Hospital and the University of Utah to founding an adoption agency focused on treating birth mothers with genuine care and respect. Her unique approach has supported countless birth mothers while earning deep appreciation from adoptive families who witness the love shown to their children's birth mothers.
Personal Stories
Donna opens up about her three adopted sons, including moving stories of birth mothers like Monica, who came from California's streets, and Malou, who traveled from Austria. These personal experiences, combined with her leadership roles in Utah's adoption community, position her uniquely to address misconceptions about Utah adoption laws and practices.
Discover why Utah's adoption community deserves recognition for its balanced approach to protecting all members of the adoption process.
Follow or Subscribe to Adoption Utah on your favorite platforms:
Website: https://www.adoptionutah.org
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AdoptionUtah
X: https://x.com/adoptionutah
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adoptionutah/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/108160387/
Follow Donna Pope:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donna-pope-41652ba/
Follow Nathan Gwilliam:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathangwilliam/
14 Aug 2025
Adoption Utah - Trailer
Adoption Utah cuts through the confusion surrounding Utah's adoption system with real stories and expert guidance. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions, brings 25+ years of experience to every episode exploring what makes Utah America's premier adoption destination. Each episode reveals the cultural and demographic forces that set Utah apart through unique family structures and faith-based community support. Discover the statistics, stories, and surprising factors that create Utah's reputation as a "safe harbor" for adoption. Birth parents learn about their options while adoptive families navigate the process with confidence. This podcast provides insider perspectives that transform assumptions into understanding for anyone considering adoption, currently in the process, or supporting someone through this journey. Join the conversation that's changing how people think about adoption.
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