Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories

Jeanette Yoffe, M.A., M.F.T. earned her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology, specializing

in adoption and foster care for the past 20 years. She treats children, teens, and adults

with serious psychological problems secondary to histories of abuse, neglect,

adoption, and /or multiple foster care placements. She is also an adopted person,

raised in foster care for 6 years.

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She is the Founder of Celia Center Inc., a non-profit organization in Los Angeles

supporting all members of the foster care and adoption constellation, which includes

birth parents, foster youth, adoptees, foster and adoptive parents, as well as

professionals working in the field.

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She is also the Clinical Director of  Yoffe Therapy Inc. A mental health center in Los

Angeles provides services to families, children, teens, and adults connected by foster

care and adoption.

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In 2019, she published a one-woman show she performed back in 2000 titled What's Your Name? Who's Your Daddy? and is on Audible.

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She published her first mental health book of interventions for working with children

in foster care and beyond titled The Traumatized and At-Risk Youth Toolbox: Over

160 Attachment-Informed Interventions for Working with Kids and Families in Foster

Care and Beyond. A must-have intervention book for all professionals and parents

working with children in foster care and adoption. She also has a set of children's books: What is Adoption? and What is Foster Care?

​Jeanette created a YouTube Channel devoted to educating the world about foster care,

adoption, and mental health called Jeanette-ically Speaking, launching Hand Model of

The Brain Video for kids.

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She is also a Psychology Today Contributor for the column The Inner Life of Foster Care.

Jeanette on YouTube

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Thank you to our Patrons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, November 21st at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees who identify as queer gathering in community on Zoom: For details, email adopteequeer@gmail.com and on Instagram.
Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Celia Center Inc., a non-profit organization in Los Angeles
supporting all members of the foster care and the adoption constellation.

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

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Wilson Munsterman is a 20-year-old author and adoptee who uses his experiences to bring greater attention to the complexity of adoption and the adoptee perspective. He is the author of Marked by Adoption: 10 Key Insights from an Adoptee’s Perspective, an Amazon #1 New Release that has reached readers internationally and been accepted into the Library of Congress. His advocacy has been recognized by the Nebraska Legislature through Legislative Resolution 483, along with letters of recognition from Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and State Senator Rita Sanders. His story has also been featured across television, radio, and podcasts.

Adopted from China as an infant, Wilson believes adoption is not a one-size-fits-all experience. At 17, he testified before the Nebraska Legislature on adoption and continues to support the adoption community through writing, advocacy, and mentorship with younger adoptees.

Rather than defining adoption as entirely positive or negative, Wilson encourages space for the different experiences and emotions that come with it. At the center of his work is a larger question: even when we cannot control every part of our story, can we still build meaningful lives? Wilson encourages others to acknowledge their past, focus on what they can control, and recognize their ability to shape what comes next. Wilson's Website

Wilson on YouTube

Sign up to be part of our mailing list & find out details about our April 2027 Live Event in Los Angeles!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, October 10th at 1pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees who identify as queer gathering in community on Zoom: For details, email adopteequeer@gmail.com and on Instagram.
Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Born in the Baby Scoop Era in 1969, Candi was adopted at five days old in a closed adoption. While loved by her adoptive family, adoption was rarely discussed beyond the narrative of being "chosen." She grew up with two older brothers who were biological to her parents, and a sister who was adopted 18 months after her.

When her adoptive mother passed away from cancer during Candi's junior year of high school, the profound grief overshadowed and masked the underlying trauma of her relinquishment. After several early search attempts, a 2017 DNA test finally helped her connect with her biological family, though in-person meetings were delayed for several years. Today, she cherishes the meaningful relationships she is building with her biological relatives and their families.

It was only two years ago that Candi finally learned the language to express how adoption has impacted her life. Discovering that there wasn’t something “wrong” with her but instead she was having normal reactions to what happened to her — was incredibly freeing. Since that breakthrough, Candi has immersed herself in adoptee-centered healing, education, and rights advocacy. Founding an in-person adoptee peer group and participating in community events have become the most transformative parts of her ongoing journey.

Professionally, Candi has worn many hats, working in various positions across different businesses throughout her career, although her favorite title is mom to her three children.

Candi on YouTube

Season 13 Book: Who is a Worthy Mother? by Rebecca Wellington

Sign up to be part of our mailing list & find out details about our April 2027 Live Event in Los Angeles!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, October 10th at 1pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees who identify as queer gathering in community on Zoom: For details, email adopteequeer@gmail.com and on Instagram.
Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

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S13, ep.1: Samantha

Samantha Verrone is an interdisciplinary artist. Exploration of how time is spent, what holds our attention and a slow, mindful method using plant and mineral dyestuffs, hand stitchwork and foraged materials form the taproot of her process.

Sam is a baby scoop era adoptee from New York City, raised in Northern Westchester, NY along with her brother, Dave (S11, Ep. 14). After reunion, it took another 2 decades for the FOG to lift. As Sam discovered, the closed adoption system is built upon a foundation of shame, secrecy, identity erasure and forced gratitude. It takes time, determination, resilience and connection with other adoptees to dismantle.

The experience of coming out of the FOG has illuminated how deeply relinquishment and adoption have affected Sam’s life. Her lifelong fascination with found objects and materials marked by time and imperfection reflects an ongoing exploration of identity, belonging, loss, fracturing and connection. She works with foraged fragments without erasing histories, instead blending, mending, rearranging, deconstructing and reconstructing, transforming them into something new, collaborating with the past. Her work considers what we inherit, what we claim and let go and centers integration.

Through caring for her adoptive mother with dementia, Sam developed a method of supporting people experiencing cognitive decline. This work has deepened her understanding of care as a creative, relational practice—one that honors identity and preserves the dignity of the individual. Again, integration is the nexus. Care, craft, and culture are intertwined. Art is powerful healing.
Samantha on YouTube

Season 13 Book: Who is a Worthy Mother? by Rebecca Wellington

Sign up to be part of our mailing list!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, September 26th at 1 pm ET.

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

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Season 12 Final: Jean Kelly Widner is the author of The Adoption Paradox: Putting Adoption into Perspective, a powerful exploration of the complex realities of adoption. Born in 1965 and adopted at birth in Washington State, Jean lives the paradox she writes about-experiencing both love and loss, belonging and separation. In her book, she shares stories from all sides of the adoption triad: adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive families, alongside insights from mental health experts.

Jean brings clarity and compassion to a subject often wrapped in silence and misconception. With a background as a marketing consultant and joint venture affiliate marketing expert, she and her husband have built and sold two successful e-commerce companies. She also owns a local news and storytelling blog in Boulder City, Nevada, where her love of writing continues to grow.

Jean lives in Southern Nevada with her husband and two dogs, and often escapes the desert heat in their camper van, where they work remotely and explore new places. Through her writing, she invites readers to see adoption not as a simple narrative of rescue or loss-but as a layered, human experience that deserves honesty, empathy, and ethical reflection.

Jean on YouTube

Season 12 Book: The Adoption Paradox by Jean Kelly Widner

Sign up to be part of our mailing list!

Thank you to our Patreons! Join at the $10 level and be part of our monthly ADOPTEE CAFE community. The next meeting will be Saturday, September 26th at 1 pm ET.

Jean on YouTube

RESOURCES for Adoptees:

Adoptees Connect

Adoptee Mentoring Society

Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.

Kristal Parke Because She Is Adopted

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.