Today’s guest is Danna Schmidt, a writer and celebrant. At eighteen, Danna found herself working in a courthouse with her own sealed adoption file within reach and began plotting how to read it. She shares her story of searching, reunion, and estrangement, and how she’s making room for the grief that runs through those experiences. We also explore what it means to reclaim a story that’s been told about us by other people, and how writing, meaningful objects, and personal rituals can help us honour our losses and ourselves.

Show Notes

Full episode transcript here.

Recommended Resources

Relative Strangers
Wonderland Memoir of a Black-Market Adoption by Patricia Knight Meyer
The Smell of Rain on Dust by Martín Prechtel
Danna Schmidt’s Writing
Adoptee Rejection Found Poem by Danna Schmidt
Danna Schmidt Substack
Danna Schmidt Ceremonies Work

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This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.