Origins P1: Identity and Adoption with Hank and Sueann Fortener of Adopt Together

In this 3-part series to Episode 3, we deep dive into three very different adoption stories to explore the topic of biological identity and origin. In Part 1, Jason reveals a major find, a truth to his own adoption story that perhaps would have gone undiscovered if not for Ancestry.com. This find led Jason and Yvonne to a soulful and identity-searching discussion with Hank and Sueann Fortener of Adopt Together, an organization that helps families come to be.   

 

This week:

• From the lens of what it means to adopt, we’ll discuss identity and origins from generation to generation
• Jason tells Yvonne the story of how he paid the Department of Human Services in Nebraska $17 for information on his adoption while on a road trip to a show in Chicago
• Jason discusses how his adoption story and his DNA journey lead him to explore family members he never knew; people from Louisiana, Scotland, South Carolina, South Georgia, and even a few Germans in Russia (Volga Germans)
• Jason discusses what it means to be a Black man, and an adopted man, in America 
• Jason and Yvonne speak to Hank and Sueann Fortener about their non-profit Adopt Together.
• Adopt Together is a donation organization that has helped 6500 families raise $25 million in 10 years 
• Sueann discusses not being American enough in America and not being Korean enough in Korea 
• Sueann and Yvonne discuss the complexities of multi-ethnic subcultures and their racial standards 
• Hank discusses how at seven years old his parents approached him about how he felt about them becoming foster parents 
• Hank discusses how his own family took on foster kids after he and his wife could no longer have kids biologically  

Cocktail: Whiskey Old Fashioned

 

Recipe

• 2 oz of George Dickel Rye Whiskey
• Three teaspoons of simple syrup 
• Several dashes of bitters 
• A couple of splashes of water 

 

History & Meaning

The Old Fashioned :

 

Before the 1860s, cocktails in America tended to be some mixture of spirit (often cognac), water, sugar, and bitters. After the 1860s and into the 1870s, other liquors like absinthe were being introduced to bars. 

But a generation of drinkers wanted something more classic, so they would ask for something their grandfather would drink. They would say, “Make me something old-fashioned.” And the name stuck.