In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam interview Brett and Bonnie Hilton about their decades-long adoption journey. After Bonnie learned at 14 she couldn't bear children, the couple explored surrogacy, adoption, and multiple paths to parenthood.

Loss to Adoption

The Hilton's experienced surrogacy that resulted in quadruplets born at 24 weeks. After losing all four babies, including their son Adam who lived 10.5 months, they pursued domestic adoption through LDS Family Services. Following their first two adoptions, they expanded through international adoption in Ukraine, ultimately building a family of four children across nine adoption attempts.

Adoption Costs and Faith

Brett discusses adoption finances openly, sharing the financial fears adoptive parents face and the miraculous provision they experienced. The couple addresses genetic concerns, bonding with adopted children, and Brett's belief that no child arrives by accident. Their Ukraine adoption process reveals the complexities of international adoption systems and why fewer children find families today.

This adoption story demonstrates faith, persistence, and the transformative nature of the adoption process.

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In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam interview Jeff Forney, whose creative approach to finding adoption records in 1991 led to a successful birth mother reunion and ultimately inspired a community-building photography project. His six-month search involved writing to hospitals using different strategies, including one breakthrough letter that provided the missing pieces to locate his birth mother in Portland, Oregon.

Creative Search Success

Jeff shares his detailed search process through the Adoptee Liberty Movement Association support group and describes the emotional first phone call he recorded on a 90-minute cassette tape. His reunion brought both joy and challenges as his birth mother wanted to blend families immediately, requiring careful navigation of boundaries and expectations. The experience taught him that reunion relationships need the same gradual building as any friendship, with both parties respecting each other's existing family connections.

Building Adoptee Community

This search experience eventually evolved into the Innocent People Project, where Jeff has photographed and shared stories of over 100 adoptees, including celebrities like Ray Liotta. His work validates that adoptees can love their adoptive families while still needing to understand their origins, and that gratitude shouldn't be demanded but naturally developed.

Jeff's story demonstrates how adoption search can lead to both personal healing and community service when approached with healthy boundaries and mutual respect.

Subscribe to Voices of Adoption for more authentic adoptee stories and reunion insights.

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Follow Jeff Forney:

Website:
https://jeffforney.com/

Innocent People Project:
https://jeffforney.com/innocentpeople/

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https://www.facebook.com/jeffforneyphoto/

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This is Part 2 of our conversation with Lorah Gerald, "The Adopted Chameleon," from Voices of Adoption. If you missed Part 1, where she shared her baby scoop era story and the electric shock of finding her siblings at 53, be sure to check it out first.

Continuing with our conversation on the Voices of Adoption with host Donna Pope, Lorah Gerald, focuses on her healing journey and practical strategies for adoptees and families navigating baby scoop era trauma. After meeting her biological siblings at 53 and experiencing the "electric shock" of connection, Lorah developed evidence-based approaches to recovery that she now shares through her advocacy work.

Healing Modalities

Lorah discusses her journey through trauma-informed yoga therapy, Kundalini practices, and energy healing work that helped her process decades of suppressed emotions. She explains how movement-based therapies can help adoptees reconnect with their bodies after early separation trauma and provides specific techniques for nervous system regulation.

Family Communication Strategies

This episode explores practical approaches for adoptive families to create authentic dialogue about adoption without triggering defensive responses. Lorah shares specific language and timing strategies that help families move beyond "Don't you know we love you?" conversations toward genuine understanding and support.

Advocacy and Community Building

Lorah explains how her personal healing led to community organizing and support group facilitation. She discusses the importance of adoptee-led spaces and how sharing lived experiences helps transform adoption practices for future generations while supporting current families in crisis.

Don't miss our upcoming episodes featuring more adoptee advocates working to improve adoption outcomes through education, policy change, and family support services.

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https://lorahgerald.com/
Email Contact:
lorahwg@gmail.com
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorah-gerald-0ba69648/
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https://www.instagram.com/theadoptedchameleon/
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In Part One of this two-part series on Voices of Adoption, host Donna Pope speaks with Lorah Gerald, known as "The Adopted Chameleon," whose baby scoop era story reveals how four million families were separated by societal shame between 1945-1972.

Historical Trauma

Lorah's father served his country overseas while that same country violated his parental rights by never informing him of her birth. Her capable mother was deemed unfit simply for being unwed, reflecting systematic practices that separated families based on shame rather than child welfare. This historical context illuminates how past adoption practices continue to impact families today.

Electric Connection

At 53, Lorah experienced what she describes as an "electric shock" when first touching her biological sisters - a physical and emotional jolt that unleashed decades of suppressed grief, joy, and recognition. The reunion revealed shared mannerisms and synchronicities that validated the deep energetic bonds that transcend physical separation.

Communication Barriers

Despite loving adoptive parents, Lorah discovered that declarations of love can inadvertently shut down essential conversations about identity and belonging. Her experience reveals how well-meaning families can create communication barriers when trauma responses meet unprocessed grief, and why professional support helps navigate these complex dynamics.

This episode demonstrates how understanding adoption's historical context and emotional complexity can help families build authentic relationships where difficult conversations become pathways to healing.

Don't miss Part Two, where Lorah shares her healing strategies and advocacy work transforming adoption practices for future generations.

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In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam speak with Patti Eddington, whose life story reads like a mystery novel; three birthdays, multiple birth certificates, and a childhood disguise that lasted decades.

Hidden Identity

Adopted at four after living in foster care, Patti grew up believing the version of her origins her loving parents shared. Patti discovered at 15 that her birth certificate showed November 15th while she'd been celebrating November 20th her entire life. At 55, a chance comment from a beautician about her childhood hair transformation sparked the first questions about her past.

DNA Discovery

A DNA test gift from her daughter at age 60 shattered everything Patti thought she knew about her identity. The results revealed no connection to the family she believed was hers and instead connected her to relatives with names like Lopez and Cantu. What followed was a journey into her true heritage, including meeting biological family members who had been searching for her and discovering she had lived with relatives as a toddler before being placed in the court system.

Family Secrets

Patti's story explores the complex layers of adoption secrecy, multiple birth certificates, changed birthdays, and the trauma of family separation that occurred when she was taken from loving relatives at age two. Her journey reveals both painful separations and the healing that can come through truth and connection across decades, while honoring the adoptive parents who raised her with love.

This episode demonstrates how identity searches can reveal both painful separations and unexpected family bonds waiting to be rediscovered.

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In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam interview Julie Ryan McGue, whose medical needs at 52 sparked a transformative search journey with her identical twin sister. Their five-year quest through Illinois's evolving adoption system led to wonderful discoveries, including their Native American heritage and connections with half-siblings living nearby.

A Journey of Growth

Julie shares how she worked through the confidential intermediary system and navigated different perspectives within her family about adoption search. With patience and professional support, she eventually connected with her birth mother, who had maintained privacy about the twins for decades. Their relationship grew from initial hesitation to ongoing contact and mutual healing.

Building Understanding

Julie emphasizes how adoption creates complex identity questions alongside love and belonging, advocating for counseling support during search and reunion processes. Her story showcases how adoptees can honor both their adoptive families and birth connections while finding their complete identity. The special bond she shared with her twin sister throughout their upbringing and search provided unique strength and perspective.

This episode shows how adoption creates opportunities for expanded family connections and personal growth when approached with understanding and support.

Discover resources for adoption search and reunion by subscribing to Voices of Adoption.

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Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21085620.Julie_Ryan_McGue

Email:

julie@juliemcgueauthor.com

Books:

Twice a Daughter:

https://www.amazon.com/Twice-Daughter-Search-Identity-Belonging/dp/1647420504

Belonging Matters:

https://www.amazon.com/Belonging-Matters-Conversations-Adoption-Kinship/dp/1958714801

Twice the Family:

https://www.amazon.com/Twice-Family-Memoir-Love-Sisterhood/dp/164742786X

Julie Brumley thought her same-race domestic adoption was trauma-free until mysterious "flashbacks to nothing" began paralyzing her during intimate moments. Despite loving adoptive parents, she carried cellular memories from surviving two abortion attempts and four different caregivers in her first seven weeks of life.

Origins
A professor's blunt warning that unresolved adoption issues would "harm people" sent Julie on a decade-long quest to uncover trauma stored in her nervous system. She reveals how traditional talk therapy missed 80% of the healing work happening in the body.

Recovery
Julie explains her seven-phase somatic approach that transforms people-pleasing and external validation into authentic self-belonging. She demonstrates why adoptee anger typically masks deeper grief and how body-based therapies like EMDR access primal wounds.

Impact
This episode shows that all adoptees carry trauma regardless of circumstances, but healing is absolutely possible when we address where trauma actually lives in the body.

Discover hope and healing for adoption trauma - SUBSCRIBE to Voices of Adoption.\

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In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam welcome Laurie James, author and somatic relationship coach, who shares her transformation story chronicled in her memoir "Sandwiched" about overcoming a lifetime of feeling like an outsider.

Guarded Hearts

Growing up, Laurie sensed an unexplained distance between herself and her adoptive mother despite clear signs of love. This puzzling dynamic remained a mystery until a car ride conversation with her aging father in her 40s revealed the truth behind her mother's guarded heart.

Double Tragedy

Laurie learned she was the third attempt at bringing a daughter into their home. Her adoptive mother had endured the stillbirth of a baby girl, followed by the heartbreak of losing another adopted daughter when the birth mother changed her mind months later. These devastating losses created a mother too wounded to risk full attachment again.

Ultimate Betrayal

Years later, Laurie's husband secretly searched for and contacted her birth mother despite her clear wishes against reunion. This violation by the person meant to protect her triggered deep abandonment wounds and ultimately contributed to the end of their 26-year marriage.

Medical Pandora

After her divorce, Laurie's health collapsed dramatically. Mysterious symptoms landed her in the hospital twice before a friend introduced her to Somatic Experiencing Therapy. Through this body-based healing approach, she discovered that adoption trauma had been stored in her nervous system for decades and learned practical tools for regulation and recovery.

Transform loneliness into lasting connection. Tune in to discover the process that helped Laurie heal decades of trauma and find her tribe. Don't miss future episodes that could change your adoption journey. Join thousands of "Voices" finding healing, hope, and community through the Voices of Adoption, today and SUBSCRIBE.

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https://www.VoicesOfAdoption.org

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Website: LaurieeJames.com

https://www.laurieejames.com/

LinkedIn: @lauire-james

https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurie-james-8336a0168/

Book: "Sandwiched"

https://www.amazon.com/Sandwiched-Memoir-Holding-Letting-Go/dp/1631527851

Apple Podcast: Confessions of a Freebird ... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/confessions-of-a-freebird-midlife-divorce-heal/id1694026063

Laurie James' free Guide - "Beginner's Guide to Somatic Healing."

https://laurieejames.myflodesk.com/bgtsh

Listen to Dr. Vivek Murthy's podcast on Loneliness and Connection:

https://brenebrown.com/podcast/dr-vivek-murthy-and-brene-on-loneliness-and-connection/

In episode of Voices of Adoption, Anthony Akerman, the acclaimed South African playwright and author, dives deeper into his adoption journey and the meaning behind his memoir title "Lucky Bastard." Anthony shares the remarkable coincidences that surrounded him long before his adoption reunion - from university classmates to teachers married to his cousins and paths unknowingly crossed with biological relatives throughout his life. He reveals how adoption shaped his relationships, leading to repetitive patterns of abandonment, choosing partners who would abandon him, and how therapy helped him understand his "repetition compulsion." Anthony also explores the literary connections between adoption stories, from Oedipus to Moses, and how storytelling became his path to healing. Despite recent health challenges, Anthony maintains his perspective as a "lucky bastard" - someone who found two families, healing, and happiness after decades of searching for belonging.

When South African playwright Anthony Akerman discovered he was adopted at age 10, his adoption journey took a dramatic turn. For nearly three decades, sealed adoption records kept him from knowing his birth name was actually Peter Farnham or that his birth father was heir to a famous wine dynasty. At 38, Anthony finally gained access to identifying information, leading to an emotional adoption reunion with his birth mother at 40. But their relationship became a rollercoaster of connection and rejection, with his birth mother eventually abandoning him again years later. Anthony's adoption story in his memoir "Lucky Bastard" chronicles how being an adopted child shaped his identity, fueled abandonment issues in relationships, and drove his decades-long search for birth parents. This episode explores why adoptees need origin stories, the complexities of adoption reunions, and how the search for biological family can heal - even when the endings aren't perfect. You'll hear about the moment everything Anthony believed about himself shattered and how that discovery launched an adoption search across continents.

Find out more about Anthony Akerman:

Bio (theatrelives.co.za) - anthony-akerman

LinkedIn - anthony-akerman

Dr. Abigail Hasberry lived two versions of her adoption story: the one her parents told her, and the one she discovered later. As a Black child raised in a white Irish Catholic family, she spent her childhood moving from country to country, watching Black culture through a TV screen she couldn't step into. In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam sit down with Dr. Hasberry, a therapist specializing in adoption trauma, who reveals why adoptive parents must fall in love with their child's culture before they fall in love with the child, and what happens when they don't. She breaks down the hidden attachment issues that plague nearly every adoptee, explains why traditional therapy often fails transracial adoptees, and shares the breakthrough brain spotting technique that finally helped her process decades of unresolved trauma. This conversation will change how you think about adoption, identity, and what it really means to give a child a home.

International adoptions have collapsed from 21,000 to just 1,200 per year. Over 100,000 children in foster care are waiting for families right now. In this inaugural episode, co-hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam expose the harsh realities behind these numbers. Donna has facilitated thousands of adoptions over 26 years and raised three adopted sons, while Nathan founded adoption.com and ran it for decades. Together, they tackle the issues that others avoid discussing - the devastating impact of policy changes, why professionals refuse controversial topics, and the heartbreaking reality of children who simply need families. You'll hear about birth mothers who place children out of pure love, adoptive families navigating complex emotions, and the urgent need for authentic conversations in the adoption community. This episode sets the stage for unfiltered discussions that will change how you think about adoption forever.

Voices of Adoption amplifies authentic stories from across the adoption triad - birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families - along with adoption service providers. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and her co-host Nathan Gwilliam, founder & former CEO of Adoption.com, create a safe space for honest conversations about the complexities of adoption. Birth parents share their journeys of love, loss, and healing. Adoptees discuss identity, belonging, and their lived experiences. Adoptive families open up about challenges and beautiful moments. Adoption service providers offer insights from their professional experience supporting families throughout the process. Each episode bridges different perspectives within the adoption community, helping listeners understand that every adoption story is unique yet connected by common threads of resilience and hope. These conversations don't shy away from difficult emotions or complex questions. Instead, they honor the full spectrum of adoption experiences with empathy and respect. Join us for stories that educate, inspire understanding, and remind us that every voice in the adoption community matters.