Melissa Brunetti public
[search 0]
More
Download the App!
show episodes
 
Mind Your Own Karma–The Adoption Chronicles Podcast educates listeners on the realities of adoption through the stories of adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents. We delve into their journeys, exploring identity, the emotional impacts of adoption, and the complexities that are involved when a child is removed from their biology. We also tackle tough topics like transracial adoption and adoption ethics, featuring experts and advocates. By sharing these diverse perspectives we hope to n ...
  continue reading
 
Loading …
show series
 
Ken DeStefano is an attorney living in New York, who is also a domestic adoptee that was born in the late 1960s. He was raised in a caring and loving home. As an adoptee, he has had a largely happy life, but always wondered about the unknown. That curiosity led to a search for his own birth mother and a reunification with her. His debut novel, I Wi…
  continue reading
 
Welcome Liz DeBetta to the podcast! Dr. Liz DeBetta, creator of Migrating Toward Wholeness© is an adoptee and independent scholar-artist-activist committed to changing systems and helping people navigate trauma through creative processes. She believes that stories are powerful change agents and when we write them and share them we connect and heal.…
  continue reading
 
Rebecca Berg, MS, RDN (she/her/hers) is a Los Angeles-based Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and adoptee who specializes in eating disorders, mental health, and body image! She is passionate about helping adoptees learn how to connect to and care for their bodies. Alongside you, she gently explores food and body coping mechanisms with curiosity an…
  continue reading
 
Jennifer is an adoptee and an Arizona-based Sound Healer originally from Queens, New York, and was born in Croatia. She is now living in reunion with most of her birth family, with the exception of her birthmother that died 3 years ago before they could meet. Jennifer’s background is in social work, and she found sound therapy quite by accident on …
  continue reading
 
Michelle Madrid is the author of Let Us Be Greater: AGentle, Guided Path to Healing for Adoptees and host of the Electricity of You Podcast. She is an international adoptee, former foster child in the UK, and an adoptee empowerment life coach who has been recognized as an Angels in Adoption® Honoree by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Instit…
  continue reading
 
Jetona Smith Milby is a Kentucky Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been practicing for 16 years. Going by the moniker of “Jet” or “The Traveling Therapist”, she enjoys *surprise surprise* traveling, animals, nature, dancing, reading, music, and astrology. Professionally, Jet works with individuals, couples, groups, and families- provid…
  continue reading
 
Anita is an adoptive parent and is a passionate advocate forredefining parenthood, self-care, and mental health. As the owner of Udomom, she dedicates herself to supporting families during their journey to and through parenthood. Anita cultivates conversations around topics oftensilenced. Her mantra, 'I am human,' reflects her belief in embracing i…
  continue reading
 
This story may not be for everyone! Russell Girten is an adoptee whose birth certificate was issued 9 days after he was born. He first was told that he was adopted at age 23, and when he began to tell his family and friends he was adopted, the common response was “I’m so glad they finally told him!” Russell didn’t have a strong desire to meet his b…
  continue reading
 
Welcome to the podcast! Meet Danielle Bruesch. Danielle was born July of 1968 in Reno, NV. She was in foster care for 4 months before being placed with her adoptive parents in Las Vegas NV. She grew up knowing she was adopted and was told she was chosen and special. At age 25, she accidentally found some identifying information in some medical reco…
  continue reading
 
Due to the enduring emotional fallout that can be part of adoption, I highly support the gentle healing of Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery® (SMGI). For more information on this groundbreaking and highly successful method, go to ⁠https://www.SomaticHealingJourneys.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ MY GUEST: Angie Grandt is an adoptive mom and mindset coach who is passiona…
  continue reading
 
Due to the LONG-LASTING EMOTIONAL FALLOUT that can be part of adoption, I highly support the GENTLE HEALING SUPPORT of SMGI: Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery. For more information on this groundbreaking and highly successful method, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.somatichealingjourneys.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Or entered the world of energy medicine at 18 as…
  continue reading
 
Due to the LONG-LASTING EMOTIONAL FALLOUT that can be part of adoption, I highly support the GENTLE HEALING SUPPORT of SMGI: Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery. For more information on this groundbreaking and highly successful method, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.somatichealingjourneys.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Or entered the world of energy medicine at 18 …
  continue reading
 
Due to the enduring EMOTIONAL FALLOUT that can be part of adoption, I highly support the GENTLE HEALING experience of SMGI: Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery. For more information on this groundbreaking and highly successful method, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.somatichealingjourneys.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Donna is a transracial adoptee, born in the UK and…
  continue reading
 
Check out this interview! She ticks all the boxes! Visit mindyourownkarma.com/podcast to listen to all the episodes. Miranda Barker, MSW LICSW, is an adoptive parent, an adoptive sibling, and a therapist. She has experienced working as an expectant parent counselor, child protection investigator and now as a therapist specializing in seeing clients…
  continue reading
 
Monique Pangari was born in Australia in 1972 at the height of the ‘Forced Adoption Era.’ Relinquished at birth and adopted at 6 weeks of age, she grew up in a family with two older adopted siblings. As a result of this complex experience, along with the rollercoaster of FOUR ‘search and reunion’ journeys,early pregnancy and parenting, and now estr…
  continue reading
 
Monique Pangari was born in Australia in 1972 at the height of the ‘Forced Adoption Era.’ Relinquished at birth and adopted at 6 weeks of age, she grew up in a family with two older adopted siblings. As a result of this complex experience, along with the rollercoaster of FOUR ‘search and reunion’ journeys,early pregnancy and parenting, and now estr…
  continue reading
 
Jennifer Dyan Ghoston is a same-race domestic adoptee inreunion with both sides of her biological family. After a 27-year career in law enforcement with the Chicago Police Department, she retired in 2014 as a police detective. In 2015, she self-published her memoir, "The Truth So Far...A Detective's Journey to Reunite With Her Birth Family." She cr…
  continue reading
 
I hope you'll join me for this conversation with Veronique. It's not often that I do interviews with adoptive parents, and maybe it's been my assumption that I know their stories already. Do you have assumptions about their stories, too? Veronique is an adoptive mother of a baby girl through an open adoption in 2021. She is originally from the Fren…
  continue reading
 
Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. In her books, essays, and blogs, she explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong, and making sense of it. Her award-winning memoir, Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging, was released in May of 2021. Her work has appeared…
  continue reading
 
Jessica Pearson was born in Billings MT in 1981. Her bio mother was a teenager who found herself pregnant, and with a family that wasn't interested in raising a baby and decided adoption was the best option for them. Jessica was the first private adoption in the state of Montana. She was raised by a medical doctor and stay-at-home mom, and it all s…
  continue reading
 
TRIGGER WARNING! TALK OF SUICIDE. Kevin Berthia is a suicide survivor, advocate, and speaker. Kevin pours his heart into sharing his powerful story of growing up in silence, always feeling the need to hide the unbearable pain he was in. Through high school and into his early twenties, Kevin was known as the life of the party… until his very public …
  continue reading
 
TRIGGER WARNING: Themes of a traumatized adoptee infant discussed. Listen to what happened when I reposted a video I saw on TikTok showing a traumatized infant being handed over to it's new adoptive mother. If you or someone you know would like to tell their adoption story on the podcast (anyone in the adoptee constellation), please send an email t…
  continue reading
 
TRIGGER WARNING: THEMES OF SUICIDE. Laura was a teenage girl in the '60s when she found out she was pregnant. With no support from the father of the child and feeling the shame of her circumstances from her parents, Laura found herself in a home for unwed mothers, feeling forced to give her baby up for adoption. Laura wrote a book about her experie…
  continue reading
 
TRIGGER WARNING: THEMES OF SUICIDE. Laura was a teenage girl in the '60s when she found out she was pregnant. With no support from the father of the child and feeling the shame of her circumstances from her parents, Laura found herself in a home for unwed mothers, feeling forced to give her baby up for adoption. Laura wrote a book about her experie…
  continue reading
 
Anna Maria DiDio, MSW is an adoptive mother and children’sauthor whose adoption-themed books encourage open and honest conversation between parents and children. Anna Maria’s L.I.F.E.* Adventures children’s book series feature stories about adoption from the point of view of the child. It all started with her memoir, Love at the Border. Anna Maria …
  continue reading
 
Jenny is a wife of 28-1/2 years, a mother of 6 and a grandmother of 5. She is a birth mother and adoptive parent. Last year she and her husband adopted a boy who is 17, and her oldest is her 31-year-old ONLY daughter, who she had an open adoption with. Jenny says the open adoption with her daughter included face-to-face visits, and that she was inc…
  continue reading
 
Paul Allen Fiscus III, a devoted father, brings a unique perspective to the discussion on adoption, parental rights, and judicial corruption—being the first parent in Kansas history to contest a privateadoption to this extent. His unwavering determination and in-depth understanding of the legal intricacies surrounding adoption highlight the hurdles…
  continue reading
 
David is a 62-year-old retired Teamster that has been married for 37 years. He has three children and one grandson. David was a baby scoop era adoptee, born in 1961 and placedwith his adopted parents when he was one month old. Talking about his adoption was totally off limits, and this created a lot of confusion about his roots. He began searching …
  continue reading
 
Adopted at birth, Edward Di Gangi was born and raised in New York City. Although he knew for most of his life that he was adopted, it wasn’t until he approached his 69th birthday that he began to search for the identity of his birth mother. His journey and the many surprising discoveries he made as he searched are recounted in his memoir, The Gift …
  continue reading
 
Adoptee Lisa Ann is the engaging host of Wandering TreePodcast connecting with her guests on thought-provoking discussions focused on the adoption journey; and spoken with each person’s unique perspectives. Guests show their resilience, personal growth, and the power of positivity. Known for her empathetic interview style, insightful questions, and…
  continue reading
 
Gina Vance is a hypnotherapist, mind-body coach, and the developer of the powerful protocol of Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery®. She guides individuals and groups on inner journeys of self exploration, discovery She’s trained with medical doctors, shamans, and manyhealers—some grounded in scientific research, others profoundly intuitive. Gina create…
  continue reading
 
SEASON 3 IS HERE! Linguistics can be important to adoptees for several reasons, especially when it comes to understanding and navigating issues related to identity, culture, and communication.But what about how we speak affects us on the inside, how it feels in our bodies, and how it can either empower us or deflate us? In this episode, I talk abou…
  continue reading
 
*** To watch on your PC, click on the episode then click on the 'full screen' icon at the bottom right of you screen. If you listened to the audio version of this episode and wondered which one of my guests was talking or what episode it was from, watch this video (available on mobile). There are many adoptees who struggle this time of year for man…
  continue reading
 
Wow! It has been another whole year, you guys! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for joining me here and giving voice to the experiences on all sides of adoption. Next season I'm going to continue educating the world about the realities of adoption, but first, GIVE THIS EPISODE A MOMENT OF YOUR DAY. You won't regret it. I asked almost all my in…
  continue reading
 
Join me in this powerful episode as I delve into the often-overlooked, profound impact of stress on a fetus during the birthmother's journey in adoption. This episode reflects the topic of my latest blog. With a lack of support for birth mothers, and at a critical time in her life when stress is at a high point, what kinds of chemicals are making t…
  continue reading
 
Katie was adopted by extended family, but it was kept a secret until life in a small town caught up with them, and when the secret was out, it was dropped in her lap. Katie is a project manager by day and an author by night. That is, when she’s also not being a full-time mom and wife. She considers herself lucky to have so many people in her life t…
  continue reading
 
When birthmother Barbara found herself pregnant, she gave her daughter Vicky up for adoption and tried to forget it ever happened. Despite having loving adoptive parents, Vicky struggled to bury the shame and rejection she felt as an adoptee; she was not good enough for her first mother’s love. Thirty years later, Barbara found Vicky and their reun…
  continue reading
 
Jacky Harner is a transnational, transgender adoptee. He was adopted from Chisinau, Moldova at 2 years of age to USA. He enjoys ice hockey and skateboarding as hobbies and loves drawing and music as well. Thank you, Jacky, for sharing your life with us at Mind Your Own Karma! If you or someone you know would like to tell their adoption story on the…
  continue reading
 
Meet Jacquelin Taybron, who is an adoptee 30 years post reunion with her biological mother and her siblings. She was born in Landstuhl, Germany, and her adoptive family was handpicked within the military community by her birth mom. At 15 months old, her adoption was finalized, and the very next day she relocated to the States with her adoptive fami…
  continue reading
 
Elizabeth was born in the ‘60s in Washington, DC and relinquished to social services immediately thereafter. Her first family was Japanese, and she stayed with them as a foster baby for three and a half months. Her adopted family welcomed her, along with their adopted son, into the family. The few details told to her parents and then to Elizabeth w…
  continue reading
 
Michele Sickler was born and relinquished on Staten Island, NY in 1962. She was placed with her adoptive family at 3 weeks of age after being in foster care. She grew up in Queens, NY. Michele found her natural family almost 13 years ago, when she was 48. At that time, she found out her mother was African American, which wasn't disclosed in her ado…
  continue reading
 
Jack Rocco, M.D. has more than 30 years as a practicingorthopedic and cosmetic surgeon. His work has taken him to many countries and cultures, including to Japan, where he served in the U.S. Air Force, and to Madagascar, where, through a nonprofit organization he established, he helped treat hundreds of children with devastating orthopedic deformit…
  continue reading
 
It was in the '90s when Carlos Munez was brought to the UK at 8 months old. As a transracial adoptee, he's experienced a loving home and a happy childhood, despite some big identity challenges. His relationship with adoption has been one of acceptance and growth from a child to adulthood. He's on a journey now to share his own story about being pro…
  continue reading
 
** Warning: This episode does mention criminal sexual aggression and may be triggering. Please listen responsibly, including choosing not to listen to this content. Seek professional help if you are struggling with emotions that surface from the content in this podcast. About Gigi: Born in 1969. Left in the hospital at birth. The name they gave her…
  continue reading
 
Jean-Pierre Weingarten has led a rich, challenging and exciting life—beginning with showing up on the planet in Paris, France. At six years old, his parents divorced and his mother remarried to an American diplomat who whisked his family around the world. And at twelve years of age, he was adopted by his stepfather. Once out of high school, Jean-Pi…
  continue reading
 
Melissa is a domestic infant adoptee, adopted by her foster family when she was 1 year old. Melissa Ulven is a project coach and death planning educator based in Eugene, Oregon. When she's not busy with work, she embraces her eclectic interests, which have included--but are not limited to--longsword fencing, roller derby, and participating in dog s…
  continue reading
 
Jean was born in 1965 in Spokane, WA at a Salvation Army hospital. Her birth mother came from North Dakota. Jean had a mostly good adoptee experience, and her parents were really wonderful, good people. Her dad was an educator and her mother a nurse. Not to say there weren’t challenges growing up, as Jean's mother was addicted to prescription drugs…
  continue reading
 
Danielle Gaudette is a Body & Brain coach and author of Healing Tree: An Adoptee’s Story About Hurting, Healing and Letting the Light Shine Through. (This episode aired 9/19/23, so workshop information is outdated. However, see her link to her website in the notes below.) After her reunion with her birth mother 24 years ago, she began an energy pra…
  continue reading
 
** Warning: This episode mentions non-consensual intercourse at the 3-minute mark. If you may be sensitive to that please forward past 3:00 on the audio. Please seek professional help if you find yourself struggling with some of the realizations that you may experience during this episode.** This week's interview is with Rodger Tellefson. Rodger wa…
  continue reading
 
Barbara Jean Liguori was born November 17, 1971 in the baby scoop era and adopted at 4 months old March 25, 1972. She currently lives in Branford, CT, but was raised in the New Haven area most of her life. She has been married for 27 years and is a mother of 2 biological sons and a stepmother of one daughter who has lived with Barbara since she was…
  continue reading
 
Loading …

Quick Reference Guide