Voices of Adoption amplifies authentic stories from across the adoption triad - birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families - along with adoption service providers. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and her co-host Nathan Gwilliam, founder & former CEO of Adoption.com, create a safe space for honest conversations about the complexities of adoption. Birth parents share their journeys of love, loss, and healing. Adoptees discuss identity, belonging, and their lived experiences. Adoptive families open up about challenges and beautiful moments. Adoption service providers offer insights from their professional experience supporting families throughout the process. Each episode bridges different perspectives within the adoption community, helping listeners understand that every adoption story is unique yet connected by common threads of resilience and hope. These conversations don't shy away from difficult emotions or complex questions. Instead, they honor the full spectrum of adoption experiences with empathy and respect. Join us for stories that educate, inspire understanding, and remind us that every voice in the adoption community matters.
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Voices of Adoption amplifies authentic stories from across the adoption triad - birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families - along with adoption service providers. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and her co-host Nathan Gwilliam, founder & former CEO of Adoption.com, create a safe space for honest conversations about the complexities of adoption. Birth parents share their journeys of love, loss, and healing. Adoptees discuss identity, belonging, and their lived experiences. Adoptive families open up about challenges and beautiful moments. Adoption service providers offer insights from their professional experience supporting families throughout the process. Each episode bridges different perspectives within the adoption community, helping listeners understand that every adoption story is unique yet connected by common threads of resilience and hope. These conversations don't shy away from difficult emotions or complex questions. Instead, they honor the full spectrum of adoption experiences with empathy and respect. Join us for stories that educate, inspire understanding, and remind us that every voice in the adoption community matters.
Adopted at 4, DNA Test Reveals Hidden Family Truth at 60
Voices of Adoption
2 months ago
Adopted at 4, DNA Test Reveals Hidden Family Truth at 60
In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam speak with Patti Eddington, whose life story reads like a mystery novel; three birthdays, multiple birth certificates, and a childhood disguise that lasted decades.
Hidden Identity
Adopted at four after living in foster care, Patti grew up believing the version of her origins her loving parents shared. Patti discovered at 15 that her birth certificate showed November 15th while she'd been celebrating November 20th her entire life. At 55, a chance comment from a beautician about her childhood hair transformation sparked the first questions about her past.
DNA Discovery
A DNA test gift from her daughter at age 60 shattered everything Patti thought she knew about her identity. The results revealed no connection to the family she believed was hers and instead connected her to relatives with names like Lopez and Cantu. What followed was a journey into her true heritage, including meeting biological family members who had been searching for her and discovering she had lived with relatives as a toddler before being placed in the court system.
Family Secrets
Patti's story explores the complex layers of adoption secrecy, multiple birth certificates, changed birthdays, and the trauma of family separation that occurred when she was taken from loving relatives at age two. Her journey reveals both painful separations and the healing that can come through truth and connection across decades, while honoring the adoptive parents who raised her with love.
This episode demonstrates how identity searches can reveal both painful separations and unexpected family bonds waiting to be rediscovered.
Subscribe to Voices of Adoption for more stories of search, reunion, and healing.
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Voices of Adoption
Voices of Adoption amplifies authentic stories from across the adoption triad - birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families - along with adoption service providers. Host Donna Pope, Executive Director of Heart To Heart Adoptions and Clinical Mental Health Counselor and her co-host Nathan Gwilliam, founder & former CEO of Adoption.com, create a safe space for honest conversations about the complexities of adoption. Birth parents share their journeys of love, loss, and healing. Adoptees discuss identity, belonging, and their lived experiences. Adoptive families open up about challenges and beautiful moments. Adoption service providers offer insights from their professional experience supporting families throughout the process. Each episode bridges different perspectives within the adoption community, helping listeners understand that every adoption story is unique yet connected by common threads of resilience and hope. These conversations don't shy away from difficult emotions or complex questions. Instead, they honor the full spectrum of adoption experiences with empathy and respect. Join us for stories that educate, inspire understanding, and remind us that every voice in the adoption community matters.
