It’s National Adoption Awareness Month!* I can think of no better way to honor it than to listen to an adoptee, especially one who is also raising an adoptee.
We always talked about adoption. It was normalized in our household.
Allison Olson in Ep 309 of Adoption: The Long View
Our guest was adopted and grew up in the closed adoption era and is now an advocate of open adoption. As she tried to figure out how to parent in a way she herself was not parented she was dismayed by the lack of early reader books about open adoption. When she didn’t find what she needed, she decided to fill that gap.
In so doing, children’s book author Allison Olson is set on changing the adoption narrative from the “lucky” child to the “loved” child.
How to talk open adoption with your young child ? Here are practical tips for you — and a storybook to go with them.
* This is why you’ll see adoptee voices represented here all month, including Allison’s. Subscribe so you get notified when each amazing guest essay is published.
Allison Olson, Adoptee, Adoptive Mom, Children’s Book Author
Everyone has a longing to know where they come from. Everyone wants to know medical history. I mean, every doctor’s appointment I’ve ever gone to, they want to know my medical history.
Allison Olson in Ep 309 of Adoption: The Long View
Born in 1979, Allison Olson has a unique perspective. She was part of a closed adoption, which is why she wants to celebrate open adoption and make sure there are adoption books that reflect the birth mother and adoptive parents in a positive light to help normalize this loving relationship. Allison lives in Oregon with her husband, two daughters, and their cat named Howie Meowie.
I was in the room when we welcomed our, and when I say our, I mean our — hers, her family’s, our family’s — our daughter into the world.
Allison Olson in Ep 309 of Adoption: The Long View
Show Notes: Resources for Ep 309 with Allison Olson
- Website: OurAdoptionBooks.com
- Book: Surrounded by Love: An Open Adoption Story
- Instagram: @kidsbooksbyallisonolson/
- Facebook: @KidsBooksbyAllisonOlson
- TikTok: @kidsbooksbyallisonolson
- YouTube: Our Adoption Books
- Ep 305 with Joanna Ivey on considering your entrance narrative
- Ep 104 with Rich Uhrlaub on ending shame & secrecy in adoption
- Sherrie Eldridge’s book Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew
Prefer to read? Here’s a transcript (but listening is so much better!).
How to Tune In Regularly
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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 teen son and a young adult daughter, writes from Denver. Her book, The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole, is available through your favorite online bookseller and makes a thoughtful anytime gift for the adoptive families in your life. Catch episodes of Adoption: The Long View wherever you get your podcasts.
Lori was honored as an Angel in Adoption® in 2018 by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.