Guest Nicole shares with us her early desires to give back to adoptee community, how she think she wanted to search for her biological family and the point in time when she realized the moment was now.  Nicole is a domestic, transracial adoptee born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She grew up knowing she was adopted. Her father, a decorated Marine turned Catholic priest adopted her after she had been left with him when she was three years old. Mother’s Day has always been particularly...

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 5. Let's keep moving forward adoptees, sharing our life experiences and bonding in community. The collective goal of our guests and host is to create a safe space and have key conversations regarding the adoption reunion experience with biological family members.  Laurie is a domestic adoptee. She was placed in her adopted family at around one month old. She came with some health issues, she had a club foot and eye problems. She was the third adopted child to...

Guest Amy shares how the longing to find and meet biological family did not manifest until later in life. Growing up she was surrounded by a loving and accepting adopted family; and she felt content with the situation. It was only later, and after having a family of her own, did Amy start to acknowledge the frustration she had felt for years in providing the standard answer to almost every question asked: I Am Adopted!  We listen as Amy talks about the her DNA testing experience, meeting her...

Accepted by Biological Family Get your box of Kleenex out for this episode! All I can say about this one is WOW! It is packed with so many amazing moments between Guests Emma Stevens and her cousin Stephanie. They speak on the impact of meeting, attending a showing of Reckoning with The Primal Wound together, sharing information on common family members, how to be the step in a missing ladder and lastly...acceptance.  About Emma Stevens Emma Stevens is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth...

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 2. Let's keep moving forward adoptees, sharing our life experiences and bonding in community. The collective goal of our guests and host is to create a safe space and have key conversations regarding the adoption reunion experience with biological family members beyond the parents.  Have you found your biological roots? Learned you have a sibling or two in the process of searching? Now what? What does a potential relationship look like for all the players?...

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 1. We are glad to be back with everyone in 2023 and we are kicking this season off with a bang!  Have you found your biological roots? Learned you have a sibling or two in the process of searching? Now what? What is the best method to approach them? Lacking a clue? So were guest Greg Gentry and Host Lisa Ann before they just jumped all in, hit a bump or two and then kept going.  Join them as they dive deep into sibling relationships, tactics they tried to...

In today's conversation with host Adoptee Lisa Ann, our guests touch on the use of social media to connect to other adoptees. We tackle the benefits of using the various platforms such as Facebook pages, Facebook groups, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok to create a thriving community.  Please join us in this roundtable discussion, where Wandering Tree Podcast welcomes back to the show Emma Stevens and Lorah Gerald. Experience the fellowship of a simple a group of connected adoptees talking...

Connecting to the adoptee community can be very helpful to the adoptee in search and reunion. In the second instance of a four part series, Host Lisa Ann sits down with the leadership of Fireside Adoptees. This group of dedicated humans are setting the adoptee community on fire by offering a space to discuss adoption from the states of surviving to thriving! They encourage and empower adoptees to work within their Community, Advocate for themselves and others, Mentor those who are farther...

In the third of a four part series on adoptees attending biological family reunions, Host Lisa Ann and podcaster Damon Davis have a great conversation. They cover the blessing of a fairytale reunion with a biological mother to the all-in aspects of a family reunion event. Wandering Tree was so grateful for the time these two spent in fellowship and looks forward to the next opportunity. Here is a bit more about our guest: Damon Davis is the host of the "Who Am I Really?" podcast...

Adoptees Lisa Ann and Elle attended biological family reunions and have lived to share out their experience. In this session they share some of their thoughts and insights into the anxiety, excitement and details of what it was like to be in the presence of so many new people. Was it horrid or fantastic? Enjoy their laughs and near tears as they speak on the two days of activities.

Connecting to the adoptee community can be very helpful to the adoptee in search and reunion. Several months ago, Host Lisa Ann sat down with Author and Podcaster Jennifer Dyan Ghoston to discuss the benefits of connection adoptee-to-adoptee. Their lived experiences spawned a creative shared episode, where they listed out a few of their favorite resources.  If you are not familiar with Jennifer, she has been connected to the adoptee community for over a decade and is interested in hearing the...

July is National Family Reunion month, who knew? Adoptees Lisa Ann and Elle are invited to biological family reunions and both have decided to attend. In this session they share some of their thoughts on the why to attend, how they have prepared and their overall fears of meeting several new people at one time. Enjoy their laughs and near tears as the day of the event is imminent.  Resources:  Nationaltoday.com The Children's Trust GatheredAgain.com 

Wandering Tree welcomes the Sibling to the show. The Sibling is one of Lisa Ann's three paternal biological sisters, a domestic adoptee from Baby Scoop era and an adopter of three in the late 1990's. Host Lisa Ann and The Sibling connected via their shared DNA match on Ancestry.com in 2019 and started to build out their current relationship from there. It was a virtual roller coaster from the beginning, but through the years, the two have built a great foundation of shared adoptee...

Guest Mary shares the many ups and downs on the years of search for her birth mother, how the longing to find and meet her became a cycle associated with birthdays and holidays and how she never gave up. We listen as Mary talks about the first planned visit to the final goodbye of the woman she was destined to connect with all in the right timing.  A little about Mary: As a mom of four and an adoptee, Mary envisioned meeting her birth mother for as long as she can remember. Her story begins...

Guest Elle Klassen and Host Lisa Ann prepare for another weekend where the ideology of great parenting is celebrated. You guessed it, we jump right in, speak our lived experience and it gets real! We sit down and spend our time together to address another key topic for many adoptees - Fathers. We want to welcome Elle Klassen back to Wandering Tree Podcast. Elle is an artist, wife, mother, friend. She was adopted near the end of the baby scoop era in 1970, in Canada. She found her first...

Host Lisa Ann sits down with two-time author Paige Adams Strickland, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and adopted at 13 months of age.  In this episode, Paige shares bits of her story and how her search for biological family began in 1987.  While we agree not all adoptees have a great life, and ours was fairly normal, being adopted made us feel exposed.  Connect with Paige via here:  Blog: https://stricklandp.wordpress.com/ Akin to the Truth found on Amazon at: ...

Host Lisa Ann sits down with two-time author Paige Adams Strickland, who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and adopted at 13 months of age.  In this episode, Paige shares bits of her story and how her search for biological family began in 1987.  While we agree not all adoptees have a great life, and ours was fairly normal, being adopted made us feel exposed.  Connect with Paige via here:  Blog: https://stricklandp.wordpress.com/ Akin to the Truth found on Amazon at: ...

Guest Elle Klassen and Host Lisa Ann decided to dive into one of the most difficult topics for many adoptees - Mothers. You guessed it, we jump right in, speak our lived experience and it gets real!  We want to extend a warm welcome to Elle Klassen. Elle is an artist, wife, mother, friend. She was adopted near the end of the baby scoop era in 1970, in Canada. She found her first family four years ago, and has since become estranged from her adoptive parents. She has thoughts on adoption....

Rebecca Autumn Sansom, director of Reckoning with The Primal Wound, spends time with Host Lisa Ann sharing her love of the book, the process of creative projects and what is on the horizon.  A beautiful conversation covering so many thoughts and feelings. It was an honor to have Rebecca read a poem in process called, "I have a secret." She is excited about the upcoming first theater screening of the movie: Reckoning with The Primal Wound and the opportunity to join remotely for a live...

Host Lisa Ann sits with The Adopted Chameleon, Lorah Gerald and talks all things adoption. The double quest in Tennessee to find her biological mother and father, three generations of rejections and how a book revered by adoptees was written out of love.  To close us out, Lorah shares information on the upcoming first theater screening of the movie: Reckoning with The Primal Wound by Rebecca Autumn Sansom. Here is how you can get tickets and find out more about the the first theater...

Wandering Tree welcomes Author Emma Stevens, The Gathering Place, to the show.  In today's conversation with host Adoptee Lisa Ann, our guest touches on her multi-decade journey of search and reunion; even teasing a bit on the adventures and detective skills needed to find ourselves. Having read/listened to this book myself, I can share that it is a must for adoptees! Emma's writing style and narration pull you in from the very beginning and keeps you till the last word. We loved having her...

Wandering Tree welcomes Mary to the show; a first mother who was forced to relinquish her child for adoption. The day we spoke was a first for both myself and Mary. Neither of us really knew what to expect when it came to having a conversation on the topic of adoption from our differing viewpoints. It was a new experience for me to be talking to a first mother who was not my own; and for Mary to speak to an adoptee not her own.  The end result is this fantastic episode on just how hard it...

Wandering Tree welcomes Jim Serrano to the show. He is a domestic adoptee, born January of 1962 in San Jose California. He found his biological family in his late thirties and has been in reunion for 22 years.  Just a few days prior to sharing his story with Adoptee Lisa Ann, his biological mother passed away. While Jim processes through grief, he remains optimistic of the next chapter. He is supported by his loving wife of 37 years, Tina; and their 35 year old daughter Elizabeth. Jim is...

Adoptee Lisa Ann and Ande Stanley of the blog and podcast -The Adoption Files - talk extensively about late discovery adoptees (LDA) and how hard it is to gain access to your personal information. Here is a list of ways to connect with our guest. Her blog at : \https://theadoptionfilescom.wordpress.com/ Her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/adoptionfiles Her Podcast:https:/ /open.spotify.com/show/68DXjPUypeImBmFZr9OOpo?si=9a5fee1cad6944d1 The Adoption Files  -A place to talk about...

Adoptee Lisa Ann talks with one of her besties on how they are adoption adjacent, what she has witnessed on the search and reunion journey and how she views the topic today. It was a pleasure to have such a good friend join us in the reality of emotions watching things unfold.