501: What We Get Wrong About Same-Race Adoption

Welcome to Season 5 of Adoption: The Long View! This month's guest is someone I made a bad first impression on (in my own head, anyway) because of an assumption I made about her that turned out to be wrong. Adoptee and content creator Jennifer Dyan Ghoston was very gracious with me anyway, and in an effort to further explore the blind spot my assumption came from – which may not be unique to me – I have invited her here to talk with us about same race adoption -- and other things.

Jennifer Dyan Ghoston is a same race domestic adoptee in reunion 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 credits her spiritual journey, which started over 40 years ago, for allowing her path to unfold in unexpected and meaningful ways. In 2021, Jennifer's continued efforts to be open, honest, and public about her lived experience while holding space for other members of the constellation has led to hosting the podcast, "Once Upon A Time...In Adopteeland". She currently co-facilitates the Adoptee Voices Writing Group created by Sara Easterly.

I'm delighted about our conversation, and I think you will be, too, so listen in!

Show Notes

• Site: jenniferdyanghoston.com
• Podcast: onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com
• Book: The Truth So Far…
• Jennifer hosting Lori on onceuponatimeinadopteeland.com

Transcript

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About this Podcast

Lori Holden (The Open-Hearted Way to Open Adoption: Helping Your Child Grow Up Whole) brings to you an array of articulate and thought-provoking guests with lived experience in adoption, each with valuable insights to share about the all-encompassing journey of parenting an adopted person from babyhood to toddlerhood to school age to teenage -- and ultimately to adulthood. Join us as we explore Adoption: The Long View.

Named a Top 25 Adoption Podcast