I’m excited to be both the host and the guest this month as I interview the authors of Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies. My co-authors Sara Easterly, an adoptee, and Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, a birth parent, have spent the last 3 years with me envisioning, writing, and polishing our book that will be released by the end this month. We hope you get it in your hands, because the reason we wrote it was to reimagine adoption in a way that better meets the needs of adoptees and their parents.
Why do I think adoptive parents should read Adoption Unfiltered? It’s simple. if you come into adoptive parenting without knowing what adoption is like from all these vantage points, you are already at a disadvantage.
Sara, Kelsey, and I bring forward lesser-revealed truths that (a) keep us in a state of misunderstanding each other, and (b) keep the general public in misunderstandings and stereotypes about adoption – which can ultimately affect any of us. Who hasn’t experienced that at one time or another?
We offer ideas to foster true openness for how we practice adoption in our homes and in our society and make it truly adoptee-centered. We give you valuable information about attachment, thanks to Sara’s work with the Neufeld Institute, studying under the renowned Dr Gordon Neufeld. We critically examine adoption policy, thanks to Kelsey’s connection with the nonprofit organization Ethical Family Building. We do not shy away from the hard topics within adoption. And in doing so, we’ve had to work through conflicts we experienced among us during our writing and editing processes. In other words, we have had to walk our talk.
So I am thoroughly, 100% excited to bring you, once again (we spoke together before in episode 205) my co-authors, colleagues in the adoption space, video podcasting partners, and friends, Sara Easterly and Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard. Listen in!
More about the Authors of Adoption Unfiltered
Sara Easterly, Thought-Leader & Adoptee
Sara Easterly is an award-winning author of books and essays. Her memoir, Searching for Mom, won a gold medal in the Illumination Book Awards, among several other honors. Her adoption-focused articles, essays, and book reviews have been published by Psychology Today, Dear Adoption, Severance Magazine, Feminine Collective, Godspace, Her View from Home, and Englewood Review of Books, to name a few.
Sara is founder of Adoptee Voices and previously led one of the largest chapters of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. She is on staff with the Neufeld Institute, and oversees its Children’s Book List.
Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard, Thought-Leader & Birth Parent
Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard spent the last several years as the Director of Advocacy and Policy at Ethical Family Building, a nonprofit organization where she worked on public policy issues impacting all adoption triad members. She’s a birth mother who is passionate about raising the standards in adoption to better serve the children, mothers, and families affected by adoption.
Adoption has been a monumental part of her entire life: Kelsey is the daughter and granddaughter of adoptees. She has worked at various agencies and law firms in the adoption field and can be found fervently and frequently demanding, “How do we fix this?” She is also a co-host of the first-ever birth mom podcast, Twisted Sisterhood.
Lori Holden, Thought-Leader & Adoptive Parent
Lori Holden, a veteran parent of two newly-minted young adults, writes at LavenderLuz.com and hosts the podcast Adoption: The Long View. She’s the author of the acclaimed book The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole (recommended by People magazine, of all things!), featured on adoption-agency required-reading lists across the country. She has keynoted and presented at adoption conferences internationally, and she has been honored as an Angel in Adoption® by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), nominated by Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado.
Show Notes: Ep 409 with the Authors of Adoption Unfiltered
- Website: Adoption Unfiltered
- Book: Adoption Unfiltered: Revelations from Adoptees, Birth Parents, Adoptive Parents, and Allies
- Video/podcast: Adoption Unfiltered
- Sara’s guest posts
- Ep205 with Sara and Kelsey: 4 Myths Adoptive Parents Still Believe
- All things Sara Easterly
- All things Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard
- All things Lori Holden
- Transcript for ep 409
How to Tune In Regularly
You can find us on Adopting.com, and on these and other platforms.
- Spotify
- Apple Podcasts
- Amazon Podcasts
- Castbox
- Search for “Adoption Long View” on your preferred podcast platform.
A new episode comes out the first Friday of the month. Thank you for sharing, subscribing, and rating this episode!
Lori Holden, mom of a young adult daughter and a young adult son, writes from Denver. She was honored as an Angel in Adoption® by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.
Her first book, The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole, makes a thoughtful anytime gift for the adoptive families in your life. Her second book, Standing Room Only: How to Be THAT Yoga Teacher is now available in paperback, and her third book, Adoption Unfiltered, is now available through your favorite bookseller!
Find Lori's books on her Amazon Author page and catch episodes of Adoption: The Long View wherever you get your podcasts.
