Born In June Raised In April: What Adoption Can Teach the World

In this powerful tenth installment of How to Love a Transracially Adopted Person, host April Dinwoodie marks ten years of writing at the intersection of Valentine's Day and Black History Month with a clear and urgent message: love without protection is no longer enough. What began as a reflection on romantic love and adoption has evolved into something deeper — a reckoning with identity, loss, belonging, race, safety, and responsibility. In this episode of Born in June, Raised in April, April examines the incomplete love narrative often attached to adoption and challenges the cultural myth that adoption is a simple, tidy love story. Drawing from her lived experience as a Black woman raised in a white family, she explores how love without truth creates fragility — and how love without protection creates harm. April shares personal reflections on growing up deeply loved, yet not always protected from racial harm. She unpacks the emotional tension between gratitude and grief, belonging and rupture, and calls parents, professionals, and institutions into a more courageous understanding of what real love requires. This episode is both personal and universal — a call-in to anyone who claims to love Black and Brown people, especially Black and Brown children. Because in this moment, protection is not optional. It is the measure of love. Keywords adoption, transracial adoption, protective love, identity, race, belonging, grief, Black identity, family dynamics, racial justice, advocacy, parenting, adoption narrative, loss, responsibility Takeaways Adoption is not a simple love story — it is a complex human story that requires truth. Gratitude and grief can coexist from the very beginning of an adopted person's life. Silence in the face of racial harm is not neutral. Loving a Black or Brown child requires racial awareness and active protection. Protective love requires courage, advocacy, and structural accountability. Love that avoids truth is fragile; love that refuses protection is incomplete. Sound Bites "Love without protection is no longer enough." "Silence is not neutral to a Black child." "Exceptional love is not safe." "Survival skills are not the same as protection." "Protection is not a statement. It is structure." Chapters 00:00 Ten Years at the Intersection 03:40 The Incomplete Love Narrative of Adoption 12:15 Gratitude, Grief, and the Both/And 18:30 When Love Isn't Connected to Protection 25:10 The Responsibility of Transracial Adoption 32:45 Protection as the Measure of Love 36:50 A Call-In to Parents, Leaders, and Institutions  

After 7 years of conversation with some of the most poignant and inspirational people I have had the privilege to know; I sit down with the person who inspired me to start this podcast in the first place, my birth cousin, Madeline Bell. We cover family connections, luck in Adoption and so much more! 

In this February episode, I take a look back on the last 4 seasons of the show; I've had some remarkable guests with some even more profound highlights & conversations. I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who has been apart of this journey with me!

Later this year, the Born in June, Raised in April podcast will relaunch with a new format and new content! But before we do, I have to pay homage to the many amazing people who made this all possible! In January 2023, I take a look back on the first 3 seasons of the show; how this all started, who planted the seed, and some of the incredibly profound guests I was blessed to have on the show!

For the December 2022 Episode I welcome dear friend, colleague, and fellow transracial adoptee, Nathan Ross. In this episode we discuss his experiences of family, holidays around this time of year, as well as other parts of the year and we also dive into some of the harder parts of adoption/ foster care as it relates to racial identity development.

In this November episode April welcomes sisters Cassandra and Julia for a healing and heartfelt conversation about their journey of sisterhood and adoption. This month during National Adoption Awareness Month, we go deep into the importance of knowing where you come from and who you are connected to, the life-long impact of adoption, and the reality that there is no one way to experience adoption. 

It's another year around the sun…My Birthday month has arrived and I decided to sit down with my producer Kyle Ferreira to discuss all the things October has to teach us! Along with the theme of Birthdays, and with Halloween quickly approaching, Kyle and I dive into what it means to "Wear a Mask" as a cover for what we may be feeling. It's also National Bullying Prevention Month, and we make room to break down the terrible situation  that happened in LA earlier this month, with an elected official making racist remarks about a transracially adopted child.

In September 2022, I sit down with NFL'S Chief National Reporter, Steve Wyche. Although Steve doesn't have a personal connection to adoption, he does have a personal understanding of what it means to move around the world as a biracial person in America. This month, Steve and I discuss our shared experiences of identity development, our lives growing up, and the incredible impact Colin Kaepernick's kneeling in protest against police brutality of people of color, has had on the world. 

In August 2022, I sit down with my producer/nephew, Kyle to discuss all things "Back to School". We dive into our thoughts around what it was like for us during school, our feeling around this ever growing fear of school shootings, what parents and professionals can do to help alleviate some of their children's worries, and the importance of connection and validation.

In July 2022, I sit with Korean American adoptee, Milton Washington. Orphaned and adopted at the age of eight, and brought to the States at the age of ten, Milton had plenty to say and stories to tell about his experiences in a new family, with a new language and new culture. This month we discuss the intersection between freedom and independence as it relates to adoption, family, and identity. 

In June 2022 I sit down with author, inspiring motivational speaker, and viral sensation, Derek "Rapping Dad" Clark! Derek and I discuss so much from foster care to fathering with so many poignant moments shared. And of course he wouldn't be the "Rapping Dad" without dripping a rhyme or two! DISCLAIMER: This episode contains challenging subject matter including violence, suicide, & sexual violence. Viewer discretion advised...

In May 2022 April sits with transracially adopted person, Amira Rose Davis. Amira is the Assistant Professor of History, African American Studies, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Penn State University. This month April and Amira discuss the intersections of Mother's Day, Birthdays, and adoption. They also take time to share their thoughts around the recent abortion laws and tragic school shootings.

In April 2022, host April Dinwoodie sits down with her producer to answer questions from listeners.  This episode April dives into all things identity, family, facing embracing differences and this month's theme of naming & claiming as well as "April showers, bring May flowers". 

In this Women's History Month episode host April Dinwoodie sits down with an amazing women, writer, editor, performer, teacher and adopted person, Susan Ito. Together they discuss the complex realities around what it means to be lucky in adoption as well as the importance of documenting narratives in adoption.

In a month filled with love and rooted in Black History, I sit down with adult transracial adoptee Hannah Jackson Matthews and her husband, Bret Matthews. Hannah is a writer, educator and a champion of the healing and humanity of transracial adoptees. Together, the three of us discuss the complexities of love, racial identity, relationships, and transracial adoption.

For this January 2022 episode, I sit down with adoptee advocate and the creator and host of the Adoptees On, Haley Radke. Haley and I discuss how we, as adopted persons, often experience the calendar differently than non-adopted persons, and how adoption can teach the world about grief.

Ending 2021 with someone I deeply cherish, former foster youth, adult adoptee and consultant, La Tika Jeffery. This month we discuss adoption as an adult and how La Tikas life circumstances impact her very clear choice to be a stay at home mom. We also dive deep into breaking old traditions and creating new healthier ones.

For National Adoption Awareness Month, I highlight some past conversations with guests that remind us of how adoption can show up at our holiday tables, how adopted children may feel the moment they realize they don't look like their adoptive parents and how we must make room for the uncomfortable visitor of adoption to ensure adoption is experienced at the highest level of elevation.

It's October which means one thing, Halloween, candy, and of course costumes and masks. This month, April is joined by the founder of Educate Don't Incarcerate, a mentoring program that focuses on criminal, juvenile and educational reform, Terrence Coffie. April and Terrence steer directly into how masks have affected their lives growing up adopted or as a foster youth and even now as adults.

It's September 2021 and that means Back to School! This month we sit with Korean Transracially adopted person Nam Holtz. Nam produced and directed a documentary film titled "Found in Korea". The film follows Nam as she journeys back to Korea in search of her culture, roots, and identity. We dive deep into this idea of parents and professionals who are on this journey of better understanding adoption and foster care.