The Adoption files seeks to provide a place for adoptees and allies to discuss the laws preventing adoptees from accessing their identities, and the emotional and physical challenges adoptees face in the process of dealing with the obstacles we face. We recognize the need to expose the problematic aspects of the adoption industry and the narrative they perpetuate. We will not only talk about the laws and the challenges they create, but also the ways that the mythology around adoption impacts the way we move through our lives, as adopted people and as mothers and other family members.
What does Adoption Abolition mean? Please join me and my guest Lorah Gerald as we talk about some of our thoughts on this topic.
Lorah is a Baby Scoop Era, Domestic US adopted person. She can be found athttps://lorahgerald.com/
There are some statistics quoted in the episode that may be difficult to believe, and hard to find. This is because they change from year to year, and the way you input your query changes the results you will receive. I am going to just list some of the sources for information and you can go and check them out.
Regarding the number of private infant adoptions in the United States per year-these numbers are not adequately captured, as reporting is uneven and not tracked in many locations. The best we can do is estimates based on different adoption organizations. This means the numbers can vary even in a single calendar year. The numbers also vary depending on whether you consider the sale of frozen embryos to be adoption, which legally is not considered adoption, even if there is zero genetic connection between the birthing person and the embryo. This is because an embryo is not a person. It is a tissue transfer.
Unicefs reports on children in substitute care and on quality of life for children and families
https://unioncitizenship.com/best-family-friendly-countries/
childbenefitstracker.org
https://gitnux.org/current-foster-care-statistics/
World Population Review
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/best-countries-for-quality-of-life
Scotland's baby boxes:
https://www.mygov.scot/baby-box
vs the US version, which is not a resource program:
https://stopshbbnow.org/
The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions
The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional
https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health
Thank you for listening!
28 Sept 2026
Quality Counts: Early Connections and Big Questions; continuing the conversation on adoption and spiritual trauma
Please join Dani and I as we continue our conversation about adoption and spiritual trauma. We are using the book Holy Hurt: Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride PhD as a scaffold for our conversation.
Dani is a mother of loss to adoption, a writer, a homesteader and an advocate for the rights of mothers and adopted people. She can be found at:
https://medium.com/@danijoy
https://substack.com/@danijoy
https://www.facebook.com/joyfuldj
Holy Hurt https://www.hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt
https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health
The host and their guest's opinions are just that, their opinions.
The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional
Thank you for listening!
21 Sept 2026
Holding Space: Healing in Relationship
Please join Dani Joy and I as we keep working on exploring the spiritual trauma that is adoption! We are using the book Holy Hurt by Hillary L McBride, PhD as a scaffold for our conversation
Dani Joy is a mother of loss to adoption, a homesteader, a writer and an ally. She can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy
https://substack.com/@danijoy
https://www.facebook.com/joyfuldj
https://www.hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/grounding-techniques
https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health
The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions
The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional
Thank you for listening!
Inside a recent episode
Braving the National Council for Adoption conference: a conversation with Katie Nelson Burns and Renee Gellin
Published 29 Jul 2024 · Transcript excerpt
[…] She's saying it that we have to tell that there is ambiguous grief. We have to acknowledge it. We have to tell it. We have to, you know, basically share it. We need to, we need to be telling the truth. She said adoption is not just placement. It is not just an event. It is not a solution. There is loss. ambiguous loss. Basically, she doesn't like this binary of birth parent, first adoptive parent that adopties should have. They shouldn't have to feel like they need to fit in. They need to belong that there is a difference between fitting in and belonging. Fitting in is you have to change who you are to be accepted by others as opposed to belonging means you are who you are authentically and people accept you for that. […]
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