Wandering Tree welcomes the Sibling to the show. The Sibling is one of Lisa Ann's three paternal biological sisters, a domestic adoptee from Baby Scoop era and an adopter of three in the late 1990's. Host Lisa Ann and The Sibling connected via their shared DNA match on Ancestry.com in 2019 and started to build out their current relationship from there. It was a virtual roller coaster from the beginning, but through the years, the two have built a great foundation of shared adoptee understanding and strength.

In this episode, Sibling discusses a bit of her own adoption story but quickly dives deeply into her experience of becoming an adopter. She shares everything on how the children came to them, what were some of the most difficult decisions to make to protect their future and how adopters need to enter into this life choice with eyes and hearts wide open.

With all the discussion in the media regarding abortion and adoption positioned as an alternative, the previously recorded session could not have been more appropriate for availability this week. My continued encouragement is to not take a side per se, but to engage by asking questions and listening. The beautiful thing about humankind is we do not have to agree or see it through the same lens. We don’t even have to agree on the content, context or account of the information.

Breaking this topic down a bit further, point blank, adoption is not simple! You see in the space where the response is to position adoption as a no brainer alternative I advocate we don’t take the bait.

Please continue to step back, find an adoptee and talk to them about their lived experience. There are millions of them out there who can discuss the reality of how adoption can be great, in the middle or horrific.

Find your people, cherish your people and love your people!