Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland

Sullivan Summer is an independent scholar, critic, essayist, poet, podcaster, and adoptee rights advocate. Her work across genres has been published in popular, literary, and academic outlets, and her pop culture hot takes and author interviews can be heard on the Adoption Pop!, Adoptees Off Script, and New Books Network podcasts. Her chapbook, Performance Anxiety, was published in 2025 by Black Sunflowers Poetry Press, and she is a 2025 "Best of the Net" anthology nominee. When not reading, writing, and podcasting about reading and writing, you can find her leading history-based reading groups at Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction, and engaging with visitors to The New York Historical, the City’s oldest museum, where she is a Docent. You can find Sullivan at her website, on Instagram, and on Substack. Adoptees for Family Preservationhttps://onadoption.netMusic by Corey Quinn

Lora K. Joy/Lora Alegria is a returning guest.Lora is a domestic, same race adoptee who is fully estranged from her adoptive family and reunited with both maternal and paternal biological family. In 2022, she legally changed her name back to her birth name and Lora’s biological mom reclaimed her through an adult adoption. Lora has self-published 3 illustrated books and a blog at www.myadopteetruth.com. She also co-led the publishing of the adoptee anthology The Flourish Experience.Lora is the Secretary of Adoptees for Family Preservation (AFFP), a nonprofit organization committed to raising awareness of adoption industry practices. Lora co-leads a peer support group on estrangement through Adoption Knowledge Affiliates. And she is a Producer for the Adoptees On podcast.Resources: https://www.adopteesffp.org https://www.adoptionknowledge.org/peer-support-groups.htmlMusic by Corey Quinn

Dr. Zoe Shaw is a licensed psychotherapist, author, speaker, podcast host, relationships coach and fitness lover. She is passionate about helping women who struggle in difficult relationships, especially that sometimes difficult relationship with themselves, overcome complex shame and co-dependency. After 15 years in traditional psychotherapy practice, Dr. Zoe jumped off the couch and now helps women using a different modality with a mix of virtual therapy, coaching services and programs, through a lens of psychology, faith and a dash of feminism.Dr. Zoe is the author of the Ask Dr. Zoe Column in the Grit and Grace Project women’s magazine and the books, A Year Of Self Care and Stronger In The Difficult Places released by Penguin Randomhouse Waterbrook. She has been featured in the OWN documentary series UNLOCKED, abd published in Oprahmag.com, Recovery Today magazine, Forbes and Today.com. She writes about helping women overcome shame and co-dependency. You can find her in the media on Instagram: @Drzoeshaw and in most social places at the handle DrZoeShaw.https://drzoeshaw.comMusic by Corey Quinn

Dani Janae is a poet and journalist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her work has been published by Longleaf Review, SWWIM, Palette Poetry, and others. Her debut collection of poetry, Hound Triptych, will be published by Sundress Publications in the Spring of 2026. She lives in South Carolina. When she is not writing she enjoys having intimate conversations with the things that puzzle and delight her, admiring spiders, watching horror movies, and hunting for figs. https://danijanae.comMusic by Corey Quinn

Abbi Johnson is a natural mother who didn't get to raise her first child. She was sent to the Liberty GodParent Maternity Home in Lynchburg, VA in 2008 and at the age of 17 was coerced into relinquishing her son.In March of 2023 she created her IG and TikTok accounts @voicelessbirthmother to begin sharing her story.In 2025, Abbi collaborated with journalist T.J. Raphael on the investigative podcast Liberty Lost, which aired in the summer of 2025 and examined the realities of maternity homes and adoption practices.Resources: https://wondery.com › shows › liberty-lostMusic by Corey Quinn

Haley Radke is a Canadian domestic adoptee, the founder of Haley Radke Media, Inc., and host of Adoptees On, one of the most successful and longest-running adoption-related podcasts in the world, with over 1.5 million downloads globally. Haley's commitment to centering adoptee stories has made her a sought-after expert within the field of adoption, and within the realm of podcast storytelling more broadly. Her project-in-progress, On Adoption, is investigating adoption’s impact on adoptees and birth/first parents. You can find her at adopteeson.com, adoptionpop.com and on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.Music by Corey Quinn

Steffe Harwood is a same race domestic adoptee, quilter, designer, artist, (unlicensed) architect, disc golfer, and backpacker (like camping). She likes to think that she is a renaissance woman, a woman of many talents. Steffe loves to make stuff. In her free time she does a lot of volunteer work with kids teaching them design and architecture, volunteering in the forest preserve, and with Disc Golf Chicago to bring the sport to more folks in the city. Music by Corey Quinn

Sara Kajder is a same race, domestic adoptee from a closed system who reached midlife before starting on the journey which has gifted her the opportunity to reunite with some members of her biological family. She is a writer and English professor who resides in Athens, GA.Music by Corey Quinn

Tammy Murphy is a returning guest.Tammy is a same race domestic Black adoptee. She has immersed herself in the adoption community and has become a content creator as a writer with a focus on adoption and healing. Tammy is a 3x volunteer for in person adoption community conferences and plans to start a coaching business next year. She recently became an adoption attuned certified coach through GIFT (Growing Intentional Families Together).Instagram: @Comingoutthatfogisamutha Music by Corey Quinn

Marisol Kassis is a transracial, transnational adoptee from Bogota, Colombia. She was adopted as an infant by her two parents and did not have any adoptive siblings. She grew up in a rural/suburban part of South New Jersey that was predominantly white. https://adoptee-voices.comMusic by Corey Quinn

Erica Livingston is a postpartum-centric full-spectrum doula, maternal health strategist, and founder of Birdsong Doulas. As an adoptee and a parent, she works at the intersections of birth justice, storytelling, and liberation, supporting families and care workers across the thresholds of pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and beyond.Website: https://www.birdsongdoulas.comMusic by Corey Quinn

Roxan Chen, is a Late Discovery Adoptee, born in Baltimore, Maryland, raised in New York, living out her creative life in New Jersey when not discovering/tour leading in various destinations throughout the world.Music by Corey Quinn

Jaciara is a transracial/international adoptee. She was adopted from Brazil in 1985 when she was 11 months old and raised in Northern California by a Jewish single parent mother, in a small and very minimally diverse town. Jaciara has obtained her Master’s degree in Social Work and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She currently works as a medical social worker in a hospital and has been in this field for many years. Jaciara has also worked in the field of adoption/foster care at various capacities for 10 years, and recently has begun a new part-time role as a Court Appointed Family Engagement Specialist. She has been a panelist on numerous adult adoptee panels, has co-developed and presented training curriculum utilizing both her lived and professional experience on the multi-layered experiences and nuances in transracial placement/adoption. She has also created educational curriculum for adoptee youth teaching mindfulness practices, as well as sharing learned life lessons and hardships from her lived experience in effort to provide the support and knowledge she so greatly wished to have had when she was younger. Jaciara has also independently provided 1:1 mentorship primarily to teenage adoptees including extending support/guidance to their adoptive parent(s). Jaciara is a member of the Board of Directors for S.P.A.C.E. (School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education) a well-known organization in her hometown that she actively participated in as a youth; she holds the position as the Chair of the board’s Cultural Education Committee. Outside of her professional work, her most cherished and beloved hobby is Samba dance; and she is a principal dancer on a award winning Samba team. For Jaciara, Samba has been her most steady connection to her Afro-Brazilian roots.Resources/References: https://youtu.be/dmfxulaeMZI?si=exMTT3VX9SZkqXuB http://www.radiocurious.org/2015/03/31/bayer-jaciara-jaciara-bayer-transracial-adoptions-and-white-privilege/ https://www.patreon.com/c/adopteelandMusic by Corey Quinn

Julian Mack is a transracial adoptee in reunion/contact with his family of origin. He is a Black American music artist living in Atlanta. Julian continues to move through questions of identity and societal issues with a thoughtful, grey-lens perspective.Music by Corey Quinn

Sonia Morgan is a late discovery adoptee born in Pennsylvania. She searched for her biological family and is currently appreciating reunion/contact with them.Music by Corey Quinn

Anna Bryant is a transracial adoptee from Iowa. She grew up in a multiracial household with White parents and international adoptee sisters from South Korea. She has been in reunion with her family of origin for 8 years which has brought both joys and heartbreaks. She is currently working on her memoir Cultural Fraud which explores her reunion journey and her search for Black identity. She currently resides in the Black Mecca of Atlanta with her husband and loves to travel, spend time with friends, and occasionally review new snacks.Music by Corey Quinn

Koko is a same-race Black adoptee with 15 years of experience in community behavioral health. She holds a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and is a Professional Clinical Counselor. A mother and a healer, Koko brings a trauma-informed, liberation-focused lens to her work with individuals and communities impacted by adoption. Her insights have made her a frequent guest on podcasts, and she has spoken at major gatherings, including the BIPOC Adoptee Conference.She is the founder and CEO of BADAN, the Black African Diaspora Adoptee Network—a global community committed to connection, care, and collective truth-telling for Black adoptees across the diaspora. Through community organizing, mental health advocacy, and storytelling. She creates space for Black adoptees to name grief, reclaim identity, and move toward embodied belonging. Her work centers the lived experiences of same-race adoptees while pushing for accountability and change within adoption and mental health systems. As stated, she can be found spilling adoption truths on Instagram @theblackadoptea.  https://www.instagram.com/badancommunity/References: https://untanglingourroots.org/schedule/Music by Corey Quinn

Garrett Lee is a same race domestic adoptee residing in Orlando, FL. He is in reunion with DNA family members and the journey continues putting the pieces together about his relinquishment/adoption story.Website: https://www.oldskoolcakes.com/Music by Corey Quinn

Janeen Jackson is an adoptee, children's book author, and powerful advocate for adult adoptees—especially those who discover the truth about their adoption later in life. Through her blog Mixed Up Diary and her book Hello, Sweet Baby!, Janeen creates space for honest conversations about identity, race, and healing. Her mission is to provide comfort and understanding to others facing similar revelations and to help families navigate the emotional complexities of adoption with empathy and truth.In 2017, Janeen took a DNA test out of curiosity. What followed was a life-altering discovery: she was adopted, had been in foster care, and was biracial. She uncovered this truth in her 40s, a revelation that completely redefined her sense of self and understanding of her past. This experience launched her into a journey of emotional excavation, family redefinition, and self-empowerment. Janeen’s late discovery of her adoption brought with it many emotional and psychological challenges, including grief, anger, confusion, and a profound identity crisis. She wrestled with issues of trust, colorism, belonging, and depression. Learning how to set healthy boundaries, confront painful family secrets, and process her biracial identity has been central to her personal transformation.Websites: https://mixedupdiary.com/ https://janeenjackson.com/Music by Corey Quinn

Eric Shaw in Southern California is an educator (Elementary School PE and High School basketball coach), adopted at birth by same race and adopted siblings with Koko, @TheBlackAdoptea on IG.Resource: https://adoptionmosaic.com/adoptee-beaconMusic by Corey Quinn