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Dr. Michele Merritt

Adoptees On

Release Date: 05/16/2025

Maria Diemar and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom show art Maria Diemar and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom

Adoptees On

305 | Maria Diemar and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom We have two incredible adoptee activists with us today. Maria Diemar and Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, both adopted in Sweden, joined up to elevate adoptee causes in some very impactful ways. Maria is the subject of Lisa’s latest graphic novel, The Excavated Earth, which exposes a horrific story of how thousands of Chilean babies were literally kidnapped and stolen to be sold for adoption to Sweden and many other countries. You won’t believe some of the shocking details that Maria and Lisa share with us today. Lisa also shares a few thoughts with us...

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Dr. Michele Merritt show art Dr. Michele Merritt

Adoptees On

304 | Dr. Michele Merritt Today’s guest is Dr. Michele Merritt - a philosophy professor who’s coined the new term Adoptism to describe the ways adoptees are marginalized. Michele shares some of her personal story, including the curiosity she always had about where she came from. We discuss what led her to start critiquing adoption publicly and the barriers to publishing these critiques that some academic journals put in place, like the classic, “I know one adoptee and they don’t feel that way”. We do mention suicide during this conversation, so please take care when deciding if this...

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Craig Mod show art Craig Mod

Adoptees On

303 | Craig Mod Craig Mod the author of Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir joins us to share his story. We deep dive into Craig’s recent reunion with his birthmother including the complexities of searching in the digital age when so much of our information is publicly available. Being fairly new to adoptee-land, Craig also gave Haley a chance to talk through some of the things that complicate the usual sunshine and rainbows view of adoption. Update - Craig will join us for our July book club when we will be reading Things Become Other Things. We do make reference to sexual assault...

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greiby medina show art greiby medina

Adoptees On

302 | greiby medina Today we’re pleased to introduce you to greiby medina, author of The One Who Loves You the Most. greiby was adopted from Honduras at age two-and-a-half to a single white mother. We discuss changing names, why greiby is not a fan of the term “coming out of the fog”, and being afraid people won’t like us because we’re adopted.       This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in...

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[Healing Series] Wounds of Childhood with Anna Linde, Sexologist show art [Healing Series] Wounds of Childhood with Anna Linde, Sexologist

Adoptees On

301 | [Healing Series] Wounds of Childhood with Anna Linde, Sexologist This is a special episode in our Healing Series where we bring on adoptee experts to tackle issues that may impact our mental health. Most often we’re talking with therapists but today I invited Anna Linde, a sexologist, to talk with us about the impacts of childhood sexual abuse on adopted people. This issue is so prevalent in our community and yet hardly anyone ever talks about it. We’ve talked about so many difficult things on the show that I think we’re finally ready. So although we do keep this to a high level...

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Haley’s Sisters show art Haley’s Sisters

Adoptees On

300 | Haley's Sisters We’ve reached our 300th episode! I found my paternal side of my family 14 years ago, and I discovered that I had three younger siblings. So even though I’m the only adoptee on today’s show, I thought you’d enjoy this peek behind the curtain, exploring what was it like for my young sisters when they were told at age 9 and 12, that they had a surprise older sister.       This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal...

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Dr. Abby Hasberry show art Dr. Abby Hasberry

Adoptees On

299 | Dr. Abby Hasberry I’m so excited to welcome Dr. Abby Hasberry back to the show today! We are celebrating her brand new book, Adopting Privilege: A Memoir of Reinventing My Adoptee Narrative. Abby is a therapist, a scholar, an adoptee and a birth mother. We get into all of it: coercion in adoption, parenting after placing a child for adoption, reunion from both sides, we even talk about sororities! Abby also addresses why so many adoptees go on to place a child for adoption themselves.       This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing...

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Kit Myers show art Kit Myers

Adoptees On

298 | Kit Myers We’ve been waiting several years to have today’s guest on, and when better then to celebrate his brand new book! Professor and critical adoption scholar Kit Myers is with us to talk about his new book, The Violence of Love: Race, Family, and Adoption in the United States. Kit is an adoptee from Hong Kong, and he shares some of his personal story including a recent reunion he got to experience a couple of months ago. We also dive into culture camps and what happened when society tried to “destigmatize adoption” for the sake of adoptive parents.       ...

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Adé Carrena show art Adé Carrena

Adoptees On

297 | Adé Carrena I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone on the show that shares today’s guest’s profession! I’m thrilled to introduce you to Chef Adé Carrena, she’s the subject of a beautiful new documentary called Bite of Benin. Adé is passionate about using food as a storytelling tool and has worked to bring West African flavours and spices to a global audience. She shares some of her personal story with us today, including being taken at age ten to the United States with her sister to be adopted. We do mention some difficult topics in this episode, so take good care when...

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Connor Howe show art Connor Howe

Adoptees On

296 | Connor Howe I’m so excited to introduce you to our guest today! We are talking all about open adoption with Connor Howe, who probably already know as adopted_connor from his many videos online. We talk about his personal story, including what it’s like to grow up with a sibling that is your adoptive parents’ biological child. We also discuss what lead Connor to get in front of the camera to critique adoption in such a public way.       This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be...

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304 | Dr. Michele Merritt

Today’s guest is Dr. Michele Merritt - a philosophy professor who’s coined the new term Adoptism to describe the ways adoptees are marginalized. Michele shares some of her personal story, including the curiosity she always had about where she came from. We discuss what led her to start critiquing adoption publicly and the barriers to publishing these critiques that some academic journals put in place, like the classic, “I know one adoptee and they don’t feel that way”. We do mention suicide during this conversation, so please take care when deciding if this a safe episode for you to listen to.

 

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This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.