The Other Side of Adoption

What this episode is about

Adoption is not always the fairy tale it is made out to be. Closing out her adoption conversations for now, Hallie gets honest about the hard parts: children who get returned, homes that are worse than where kids came from, and the thousands of young people who age out of foster care each year with nowhere to go.

She shares difficult statistics, a story that has stayed with her since high school, and what it feels like to be placed into a life you did not choose. It is a heavy episode, and an important one for adoptees, foster youth, and anyone who loves them. Resource mentioned: Second Shift Birmingham.

Chapters

1. 0:00Closing out the adoption conversation
2. 1:31Every adoption story is different
3. 2:47The questions adoptees carry
4. 4:01When adopted kids get returned
5. 6:27Adoption isn't always a fairy tale
6. 6:55A story that has stayed with me since high school
7. 8:39What happens behind closed doors
8. 10:47The numbers on foster care and adoption
9. 13:59Aging out with no family
10. 15:29Feeling like you have no control over your life
11. 16:29Second Shift Birmingham
12. 16:59If you've lived this, you are seen
13. 18:31Wrap up

Takeaways

• Adoption can hold both love and loss
• Aging out of foster care leaves many young adults without support
• Adoptees deserve space to tell the whole story

A question to sit with

• What do you wish more people understood about adoption or foster care?