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

Jackie’s life and work are rooted in the profound belief that every individual deserves a "brave space" to show up authentically, fully, and without judgment. As the Executive Director of a Hospice Home and the founder of Lega-C Healing by Jackie, she dedicates her days to guiding others through life’s most delicate transitions with grace, intuition, and deep compassion.

Her professional path is inextricably linked to her extraordinary personal journey. A survivor of orphan trafficking from the Dominican Republic under the guise of international adoption, Jackie was brought to the United States as a child, after the death of her mother, separated from her twin and everything she knew. She spent years navigating the complexities of identity and belonging, a quest that eventually led to a series of powerful reunions: first with her U.S.-based siblings at age nineteen, and later with her twin, her biological father, and her remaining siblings at thirty-two.

These experiences of loss and reclamation shaped her into a gifted Community Builder, Death Doula, and intuitive healer. Jackie understands the weight of being "un-homed" and has turned that history into a sanctuary for others, helping them find peace and presence even in the face of the unknown.

Beyond her clinical and spiritual leadership, Jackie is a mother of three, a wife, and a dedicated artist. She finds her own healing and inspiration in nature, whether she is exploring the outdoors or translating the beauty of the world into her creative work. Her life is a living testament to the power of resilience and the enduring legacy of healing.

Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order:

Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall

You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault

Unspoken by Liz Harvie

EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206!

Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, February 7th, at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law

Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group

Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement

Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

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Born in England, to a young American Mother, Dean was adopted by a loving English couple who already had another, separately adopted son. Fully aware of being adopted from an early age, both siblings struggled for a sense of identity, and tension was ever-present in the family. Eventually, aged 33, Dean decided to attempt to find and connect with his birth mother and was eventually able to do so, aged 42. Reunification went very well for a few years, but eventually their relationship became toxic, and Dean decided to move on.

Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order:

Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall

You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault

Unspoken by Liz Harvie

EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206!

Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, February 7th, at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law

Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group

Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement

Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Relinquished at birth, Mindy was the only girl and the oldest child in her family, learning at age five that she had been adopted. Her childhood was marked by serious anxiety and feelings of being an outsider while also losing herself in the role she fulfilled as “Mindy”.

Finding her maternal bio-family in her mid-thirties helped her to solve some of the mystery behind her abandonment. After the tragic passing of both of her adoptive parents when she was forty-three, Mindy began coming to terms with her origins, experiences, and losses.

As age fifty approached, she began connecting with online adoption communities, asking questions, and coming out of the fog. Finding and connecting with her paternal half-siblings during this time has helped her know what it feels like to belong. While there has been a lot of pain in her life, Mindy believes that practicing gratitude has been key to where she is on her journey toward healing.

Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order:

Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall

You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault

Unspoken by Liz Harvie

EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206!

Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, February 7th, at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law

Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group

Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement

Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Laura was born to teen parents in South Carolina in May 1984 and was adopted through Catholic Charities by a wonderful and loving couple who could not have biological children. An adopted brother joined the family seven years later.  She always knew she was adopted, and while adoption was spoken about openly and positively, it was understood by both siblings that searching for biological family would not be supported.

The birth of Laura’s second child sparked a curiosity to begin the search through an ancestry kit. With the help of a search angel, she was able to identify her biological parents and connect with aunts and an uncle on both sides of her biological family. Reunion has brought answers to many questions, healing, and a continuing unpacking of issues that have always been nagging but not understood.

Today, Laura lives with her husband and three children and is a child welfare attorney.

Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order:

Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall

You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault

Unspoken by Liz Harvie

EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206!

Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, January 3rd, at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law

Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group

Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement

Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alana Godin, born in 1966 in Vancouver, British Columbia, is an adoptee raised in a family whose mother, after three sons, had longed for a daughter. Growing up, Alana struggled to fit the role imagined for her but remained deeply grateful to her adoptive parents, whose support later allowed her to keep and raise her own child.

As a teenager, Alana had to navigate adulthood early, becoming pregnant and marrying young, but it was the birth of her second child that created a strong pull to understand her origins. Without the internet or DNA testing, she spent five years searching through parent registries, census records, and newspaper ads, ultimately reuniting with her birth mother and, a year later, locating her birth father as well, both of whom welcomed her immediately. In her search for her family, Alana gained seven sisters and three additional brothers - an expanded family that helped complete her sense of identity, feeling of being home, and finally, with her tribe. And although her instant newfound connection was profound for her, like many adoptees after reunion, she struggles with guilt and the need to protect her adopted family, for also loving her newly discovered family.

Alana has confronted her own struggles with depression, suicidal ideation, and chronic illness, traits common among adoptees, and is now learning to heal through understanding and meeting other adoptees with similar experiences. As well, recently, Alana has learned more via a freedom of information request of her adoption documents of what her biological mother endured as a young, unwed mother in 1960’s - the rigid social stigma of the times that would push someone to relinquish their child.

Alana’s story is one of resilience, truth-seeking, and healing - a testament to identity, motherhood and the enduring human need and RIGHT to know where we come from.

Season 11: Adoptee Memoirs - books in order:

Practically Still a Virgin by Monica Hall

You Can't Get Rid of Me by Jesse Scott and Keri Ault

Unspoken by Liz Harvie

EVENTBRITE LINK - AUSTIN, TEXAS - LIVE PODCAST EVENT: 4/17 & 4/18 2206!

Sign up to be part of our mailing list and receive upcoming details about our April 17th & 18th Live Podcast Event in Austin, Texas!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, January 3rd, at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law

Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group

Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement

Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.