Open Adoption Project

About Open Adoption Project

This podcast is about connecting. It's about growing. It's about stretching. In society nowadays, it's easy to fall into echo chambers. This is not an echo chamber. Open Adoption Project is a community dedicated to listening and learning, and building relationships based on healthy respect and communication. The Open Adoption Project focuses on improving adoptee experiences by encouraging open communication between all members of the adoption constellation, nurturing ongoing open adoption relationships and promoting ethical adoption practices. Follow us on Instagram @OpenAdoptionProject and at our website, openadoptionproject.org (http://openadoptionproject.org) (http://openadoptionproject.org (http://openadoptionproject.org)). Everyone is welcome here. Considering adopting? Adoptive parents tune in as we listen and learn from adoptees first and foremost. Adopted individuals share a wide spectrum of experiences, including search and reunion. This podcast is a safe space for any perspectives and experiences adoptees and first parents share, while adopters and those wanting to adopt listen and learn. Academics and others also share with us. This podcast is a passion project. No one here is connected to any adoption agencies. We do not profit from this podcast. It is a volunteer project we embrace to better enable adoptees and birth parents / biological parents to share their stories.

Publisher

Lanette & Shaun Nelson

Category

kids & family · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Apr 2021

Latest episode

15 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

5 of 135 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   15 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Finding Home: Identity, Reunion, and the Complexity of Adoption with Jay Barbanel

   Host Shaun interviews adoptee and author Jay Barbanel about navigating identity, reunion, and the complex emotional landscape of adoption.

2. 

   2 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   From Secrets to Self-Discovery with Bob Sutherland

   Bob Sutherland shares his profound adoption journey, from a Brooklyn crime family to self-discovery through DNA, offering insights into resilience and embracing identity.

3. 

   1 Jun 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Finding Family Through DNA: Adoptee Diane Rosenblum’s Journey

   Adoptee Diane Rosenblum shares her profound journey of self-discovery and reconnection with her biological family through DNA testing, offering insights into the emotional complexities of adoption.

Inside a recent episode

Finding Home: Identity, Reunion, and the Complexity of Adoption with Jay Barbanel

Published 15 Jun 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] I wish that people could understand that adoption can be both beautiful and painful at the same time. I think that people often want to want it to be one or the other they want it to be a rescue story or they want it to be a tragedy and i live in a place where i think i'm in the middle of both of those things yeah where i love my family and the people that raised me because those are my people that's my family my parents are my parents but i can also grieve the family members that i choose to grieve from the past Being in reunion, I love the idea and the true relationship that my sister and I have. […]

Who has been a guest on Open Adoption Project

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Jay Barbanel
• Bob Sutherland
• Diane Rosenblum
• Edward Di Gangi
• Emma Boggess

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

47 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

61

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact Open Adoption Project

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.