Welcome to What Next:The Adoptee Rights Podcast. Each week we’ll talk about the state of adoptee rights and all that it is—or isn’t. We’ll feature state and federal legislative updates, interviews, and legal developments, plus we’ll discuss the frequent absurdities and complications of being an adopted person.
Join AU’s Gregory Luce and his guests as they discuss the state of adoptee rights. Fun and informative, with a constant bottom line of equality for all adopted people.
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Popular Episode: Switched
What if you are switched at birth—and then adopted? How do you unravel all the legal threads of adoption to get to the truth, if not reconstruct relationships that may have been created from the wrong information and records?
Greg talks with Minnesota-born adoptee Diane Bazella about discovering a truth about the records of her birth and adoption that has left her reeling— and has compelled her to seek legal help.
Latest Episode: @stoweyvik
Known among adoptees as @stoweyvik on Twitter, Vicki is a transracial UK adoptee, army veteran, and the host of weekly Sunday Zoom chats with adoptees and special invited guests.
Greg talks to Vicki about her and her siblings’ life in rural England and about her recent participation in the UK government’s recent inquiry into forced adoptions that occurred in Britain between 1949 and 1976. Along the way they also talk about hair, prosecuting racial violence, and the need for adoptee retreats.
More information/links:
- The Joint Human Rights Committee inquiry on the right to family life: adoption of children of unmarried women 1949-1976.
- Video/Audio of proceedings of May 25, 2022, with witnesses Nadhim Zahawi MP, Secretary of State, Department of Education; Sarah Jennings, Deputy Director of Adoption, Family Justice and Care Leavers, Department of Education
Previous Episode: DIB+
Erica Babino talks with Greg about Roe v. Wade, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in adoptee rights, plus what an adoptee rights retreat could bring and do for the community.
Erica Babino is New York born and Texas-adopted. She has a long history in the adoptee rights movement, including as former legislative director of the American Adoption Congress and as a current board member with Adoptees United Inc. She currently oversees equity and inclusion work at a private educational institution in Portland.
Erica is a consultant to numerous organizations on organizational issues of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. She is also the author of Rolling Into Peace, a children’s book that explores mediation and conflict resolution using a stimulating and visionary approach that is logical and relatable to children. Another book in the series is forthcoming.
And Another Episode: Outside the Fold
A conversation with biologist and climate scientist Sandra Steingraber, about adoption, cancer, and queerness.
Dr. Sandra Steingraber is a rockstar in her field, related to her research, writing, lectures, and activism on issues related to chemical pollutants and environmental dangers in our communities, including fracking.
But she’s also an adopted person, and Greg talks with her about her experience as an adoptee within the context of multiple communities, including academia, science, cancer survivors, and, more recently, the world of adoptee rights, particularly her identity as a queer adoptee.
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