Adoption & Beyond Podcast

In this episode episode of Adoption & Beyond Podcast, we interviews three people who went through infertility and then decided to move on to adopting children. During this episode our guests speak about the raw emotions, the ups and the downs, and their grief journeys through their #infertility, as well as the adoption process.

Welcome to our new and improved podcast Adoption & Beyond. On this episode of the podcast we introduce our new name and new segments of the podcast. We are also now on VIDEO! If you would like to see the episode head over to our YouTube Channel @Adoption&BeyondPodcast.

In celebration of March being National Social Work Month, we got together with three amazing guests: Jackie, Christian and Emily. They are all adoptees who now work at Adoptions From The Heart as adoption social workers. During this episode they discuss the ups and downs of working in the adoption field, their story as adoptees and how they ended up in social work, importance of work-life balance, and much more.

To learn more about Adoptions From The Heart, head over to our website at www.afth.org.

In This episode, we sit down with Vaughn and Marvin, two adoptive dads, as they share their journey as a same-sex couple navigating the open adoption process. We discuss their experiences, similarities, and differences in adopting a newborn vs. an older child placement(a two-year-old). We also dive into the many hurdles faced with finalization, navigating transitions from one household to another, identity, addressing the importance of inclusion and diversity, how to deal with the opinions of others, and how they overcame personal challenges. To learn more about Adoptions From The Heart and the services we provide you can go to www.afth.org or call 800-355-5500. Please make sure you subscribe and rate our podcast!

On this episode of A Heart-to-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are excited to welcome Leya, a Senior Social Worker at ChristianaCare in Delaware who provides supportive services to expecting parents. We are also joined by Amanda Aliberti who is an Adoption Counselor and Supervisor as well as the Expecting and Birth Parent Services Manager at Adoptions From The Heart.

Adoptions From The Heart has the honor of working alongside incredible medical professionals to provide information and support to expecting parents wanting to explore their options. Leya shares more about her role at ChristianaCare and how she advocates for patients' needs and provides support and resources as they navigate their pregnancies. Amanda discusses the importance of developing relationships and trust between AFTH and hospital staff to be able to provide seamless care to expecting parents and advocating for clients' needs is the priority whether or not they choose to move forward with an adoption plan.

On this episode of A Heart-to-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart podcast we wanted to take a time a highlight the voices of people in the military community with ties to adoption. May is Military Appreciation month, so on this episode we talked the challenges of placing a child for adoption, adopting a child or being an adoption social worker while being a service member or a military spouse. During our conversation we spoke about the raw experiences of the our service men and women who have chosen adoption.

During the episode we touch on important subjects like post-partum depression, metal health, the process of adopting while in the military, maintaining openness in the adoption plan, and much more. We want to thank all Katie, Brittny and Tiffany for being open and honest about their experiences.

To learn more about Adoptions From The Heart pleas visit www.afth.org or call 800-355-5500.

In this episode of Heart-to-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart Podcast, we sat down with Kyle, Chantel and Katy to talk about their experience as Birth Parents. Often times people think that there is no life after placement for Birth Parents, but in this episode, we dive into the before, during and after placing their children from adoption. We discussed the reasons why they placed, infertility after placing, importance of support, openness in their adoption triad, and much more. Tune in to learn more about these three amazing Birth Parents. 

For more information about Adoptions From The Heart you can find us in any social media platform as @adoptionsfromtheheart or you can go to our website at www.afth.org. 

Welcome to the third episode of the Marketing TakeOver of a Heart-to-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart podcast. In this episode we were joined by two amazing, adoptive parents, Sheila Kowit and Joan Smith, who also happen to be Adoptions From The Heart social workers, as well!

In this episode, we dive into a deep discussion about openness, tough conversations to have with your adoptee as an adoptive parent, as well as core issues that often arise in adoption, and so much more.

To learn more about Adoptions From The Heart and the services we provide you can go to www.afth.org

In this episode of a Heart-To-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are joined by Amanda Aliberti, AFTH Adoption Counselor and Birthparent Post-Placement Support Manager to discuss the importance of choice for pregnant people and options counseling. We are also joined by Adoptee Colleen, Birth Mother Whitney and Prospective Adoptive Parent, Kristy to discuss why choice is important for them and their reactions after hearing about the Roe v. Wade decision.

Follow us on Social Media

Instagram – @AdoptionsFromTheHeart

Facebook – @AdoptionsFromTheHeart

Twitter – @AFTH_Org

Our Website – www.afth.org

In this episode of a Heart-To-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are joined by TikTok Influencer Taylor Shennett and foster mother, Nicole Fowler. Tune in as we dive into an open discussion about Social Media Impact, Transracial adoption, and Letting go of the "ColorBlind" method.

Follow Taylor on Social Media

Instagram – @taylorshennett

TikTok – @taylorruipingshen

Follow AFTH on Social Media

Instagram – @AdoptionsFromTheHeart

Facebook – @AdoptionsFromTheHeart

Twitter – @AFTH_Org

Our Website – www.afth.org

In this episode of a Heart-To-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are joined by Rebecca Vahle and our very own, Stephanie Capriotti to discuss Unique Family Care, Language, and the Importance of training in the hospital setting. Rebecca is the founder of Family-to-Family Support Network® (FFSN), the first hospital-based adoption support program in the nation. Stephanie Capriotti, Program Coordinator, and Adoption Counselor join us to share her experiences with hospital placements and working alongside birth and adoptive families.

Follow us on Social Media

Instagram – @AdoptionsFromTheHeart

Facebook – @AdoptionsFromTheHeart

Twitter – @AFTH_Org

Our Website – www.afth.org

Follow FFSN on Social Media

Facebook - @Familytofamilysupportnetwork
Website – www.familytofamilysupport.org/

In this episode of A Heart to Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are joined by Kristen young, Event Planning and Fundraising Coordinator of the Cade Foundation. Tune in as we discuss the importance of infertility awareness and education, as well as, financial resources and services that are available.

Cade Foundation Website: https://cadefoundation.org/

CADE Foundation Events Calendar: https://cadefoundation.org/events

Cade Foundation Instagram: @cadefoundation

In this episode of A Heart to Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are joined by Rebekah McGee, a licensed social worker from NYC and mom of 3, as well as Brittany, stay-at-home mom of 6. We discuss character and self-identity while battling disability, support and coping with disappointment, and expectation management. Tune into this episode to learn more about parenting special needs children in all its beauties and struggles.

In this episode of Heart-To-Heart with Adoptions From The Heart, we are joined by Deborah Spivak, a private attorney whose practice is limited to adoptions, and Ashley Kodet, a county administrator for infants court, to discuss post-adoption contact agreements (PACA) in private infant adoption and foster care. 

In this episode, we welcome Keri Friedman and Jennifer Conn. Keri is a Chinese adoptee who will soon be graduating college with a degree in Psychology and is currently interning at Adoptions From The Heart. Jennifer is a Korean adoptee who works with adoptees and families as a licensed social worker and child and family therapist. She also serves on the AFTH Board of Directors. Our discussion ranged from highlighting some of the generational differences among Asian adoptees to the many aspects of their experiences that are similar including challenges relating to transracial adoption, confronting the globalization of Western beauty standards and shaping their identity over time.

Episode Highlights

• Learning about adoption from a young age
• Transracial adoption - children understand and notice race at a very young age
• Different generations have different levels of documentation available about adoption
• DNA testing to learn more about self and make possible biological connections
  • Korea now has a DNA bank than can help match adoptees with biological family in Korea
• Growing up – community, culture & school
• Globalization of Western beauty standards and the effects on many Asian adoptees
• Disconnect between how adoptees see themselves and how the outside world sees them
• How does being international adoptee affect your views on adoption?

Search and reunions are important topics to cover when discussing adoption. On today’s podcast, we welcome two women who have made a significant impact helping adoptees and birth parents in their search process. Helen Blair Schuler is a former Orphan’s Court Administrator in Montgomery County and continues to provide adoption search services. Marilyn Rich is Adoptions From The Heart’s Search Coordinator and District Supervisor for our Central PA Region with over 28 years as an adoption social worker. Marilyn is also an adoptee.

In this episode, we will discuss the ins and outs of Pennsylvania Adoption Searches: What is a search, what the statues say, how confidentiality and right to know play in adoption searching. Most importantly, know it’s a very personal journey and each individual can decide if and when they begin their own personal search.

Episode Highlights

• What is an Adoption Search
• 1984 Adoption Statue & Revisions with 2010’s ACT 101
• How do Searches Begin
• Adoption Searches and Confidentiality
• What Happens When an Agency Wasn’t Involved in Adoption Placement
• Agency Maintaining Adoption Records for 99 Years
• How to Reach Out During a Search
• Reasons for Searching
• Increase in Birth Parents Requesting Searches for Adoptees
• Encountering Surprises During the Search Process
• Balancing Privacy of Birth Parents and Adoptee Right to Knowledge
• Creating a Relationship After Connecting
• Searching is Not for Everyone and That’s OK Too

On today’s podcast we welcome Ashley Kodet. Ashley began her social work career in foster care and then moved into private domestic adoption for many years. She is now using her background knowledge in her role as an Orphan’s Court Administrator in the Philadelphia area. Our discussion will focus on the adoption related court process and what it looks like after an adoption placement occurs.

Episode Highlights

• Changes in court system due to COVID
• Benefits and challenges/drawbacks with virtual model
• Highlighting some special court moments for families during COVID
• Process after adoption placement
• Different types of adoption finalizations
• Birth Parent involvement in court hearings
• Post Placement reports
• Finalization Hearing
  

This week is Infertility Awareness week, so we wanted to begin our discussion about the grief and loss surrounding infertility and moving through a diagnosis and treatment options and then possibly making a transition into considering adoption.

Our guests today include Tracy Whitney who is a Content Manager at Creating a Family, the national non-profit whose mission is to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. We are also happy to have Michaelina Bendig who has been a social worker at Adoptions From The Heart for the past 21 years. Each of our guests today have both personal & professional experience in the realm of infertility and adoption.

Episode Highlights:

• When It’s Recommended to See Professional if Struggling to Conceive
• How to Process the Emotional Impact
• Guests’ Personal Struggles with Pregnancy & Infertility
• Creating a Family Resources
• Men and Women Tend to Grieve Differently
• Open Communication about Next Step
• Transitioning into Adoption Process
• When Partners Are on Different Pages
• Education is Key to the Next Step

In honor of March being National Social Work Month, we wanted to dive further into what it’s like being an essential worker and how the field of social work has been affected by the pandemic.

Our guests today include Dr. Chelsea Toth, Director of Field Education & Assistant Professor of Social Work at Cedar Crest College as well as three Adoptions From The Heart’s interns Nikki, Chevonne and Jackie.

Episode Highlights

• Going out into the field for the first time during COVID
• Juggling working with clients virtually as well as in-person
• Balancing the desire to be in the field to help during the pandemic with the need to stay safe
• Adjusting to the changes in the field of social work due to COVID
• Gaps in social work roles created by not being able to see clients face-to-face
• Harder to maintain self-care and prevent burnout when working virtually
• Highlights of the past year despite COVID
• Advice for those just beginning their careers in social work

Battling addiction can feel like a lonely road, it’s especially hard when facing that challenge while pregnant. “When you are pregnant and in addiction, it’s like no one looks at you below your shoulders. There is so much shame and judgment when all I really needed was help.”

Our guests today openly speak about their journey with addition, pregnancy and adoption. The discussion also sheds light on some of the gaps in services provided to those battling addiction and in recovery. Joining in our talk today we have Jenna Smith, Domestic Program Coordinator for Adoptions From The Heart, Amanda Aliberti, Adoption Counselor and Birth Parent Post Placement Services Coordinator, Alicia who is an outreach worker with a recovery house and placed her child for adoption in 2016, and Kristen and Alison who both have placed children through AFTH while also battling addiction and are currently in recovery.

Ashley Mitchell, owner of Big Tough Girl and Founder + Executive Director of Lifetime Healing Foundation sits down for a virtual chat with AFTH's own Adoption Counselor & AFTHtv host Amanda Aliberti. These ladies dive into the nitty-gritty of the common holiday triggered anxiety and depression that expecting, and birth parents face each year.

Birth mothers Asia (AFTHtv) and Muthoni Gaciku Kittredge (Birth Mothers Amplified) join us in the sixth episode to talk about learning about their unplanned pregnancies, the reasoning behind their decision to place, and finding the courage to share their story while empowering other men and women to do the same.

Transracial adoptive parent/transracial adoptee Brandi Ebersole and AFTH transracial adoptee Carli Glen connect with episode host AFTH PR & Marketing Coordinator Meagan Twardy. The two adoptees share stories with Meagan about finding ways to connect with their culture, dealing with racism, and empowering other adoptees to speak their truth about their experiences. Brandi also talks about her experience as a transracial adoptive parent and maintaining openness with her children's birth families. 

Frequent BraveLove contributor Dominique White, a birth mom connects with AFTHtv frequent guest and birth mom Mary Kiker. The women dive into the realities of when their child's family adopts again.

 AFTH transracial adoptee Carli Glen sits down for a virtual conversation with fellow transracial adoption thought-leader Angela Tucker (the subject of 2013 documentary "Closure"). Despite the fact that these African American women grew up during different time periods and on opposite coasts of one another, many aspects of their upbringing were similar. Tune in to hear the women talk about what it was like growing up in a closed adoption, communities with little diversity, and connecting with their culture as adults.  

In this episode, two women who faced unplanned pregnancies reflect on their journey of fighting through a storm of trauma, finding ways to heal, and the power of support from the birth parent community. Today Hope O. Baker is doing her part to share her story through her blog, a published book, and social media. Samantha Thurlow is doing her part by volunteering with AFTH to share her story and mentor others who walk through the agency's doors.

A Heart-to-Heart with Educator, Servant Leader, and Proud Birth Mother Courtney Tierra & AFTH Birth/Frequent AFTHtv Guest Mom SeAyra Greene.