PodcastsScienceThe Adoption Files

The Adoption Files

Ande Stanley
The Adoption Files
Latest episode

139 episodes

  • The Adoption Files

    Beyond the Band-Aid: going Deeper into the Examination of Spiritual Trauma and Adoption

    12/03/2026 | 1h 35 mins.
    Please join Dani Joy and I as we continue our conversation about spiritual trauma and adoption, using the book Holy Hurt: Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing, by Hillary L McBride, PhD. We have reached page 28, and are talking about McBrides' lists of the physical, social, relational and spiritual symptoms of spiritual trauma.
    Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy
    Holy Hurt: https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/
    https://concernedunitedbirthparents.org/
    https://www.facebook.com Adoption Trauma Network
    https://rainn.org/
    https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

    The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions.
    The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.
    Thank you for listening!
  • The Adoption Files

    Finding Our Way: Continuing the Conversation Concerning Spiritual Trauma and Adoption

    08/03/2026 | 1h 41 mins.
    Please join Dani and I as we continue to explore the intersection of adoption and spiritual trauma. We continue to use the book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride, PhD as a framework for our conversation. Today we cover material from pages 37-48
    Dani Joy is a first mom. She can be found at https://medium.com/@danijoy
    I am a Late Discovery, Intercountry, Former Foster Child adopted and brought to the USA when I was a toddler.
    https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/
    https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/6392-stress-coping-with-lifes-stressors
    https://www.apa.org/topics/crisis-hotlines
    https://www.thetrevorproject.org/
    https://rainn.org/
    https://savingoursistersadoption.org
    The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions
    The host is not a lawyer, therapist or an adoption professional
  • The Adoption Files

    Adriana Calin is still fighting to be recognized as a person: A Romanian Adoptee/ Human Trade Victim

    04/03/2026 | 1h 20 mins.
    Please join me and Adriana Rockefeller as we talk about what has happened in her fight to be recognized as a person since we spoke early last year in a two part interview here on the podcast.
    Adriana is still fighting to be recognized by Romania and Canada as a legal person. You can be a part of making that happen, as her court case continues.
    Adriana was raised as Roxana Pamela. Two years ago, she discovered that she had been adopted to Canada from Romania using another infants birth certificate. She subsequently discovered that this invalidates her own legal identity, leaving her in limbo, and without a state.
    You can help Adriana achieve personhood by purchasing her book and by donating to her fundraiser for legal funds. In a time where we often feel powerless, this is an opportunity to do something concrete for a victim of human trafficking.
    Her book Ne M'appelez pas Roxana:
    https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/ne-mappelez-pasroxana/9782897612764.html
    Instagram: @adriana.citizenofnowhere
    gofundme.com/f/Help-Adriana-Reclaim-Her-Identity
    tiktok: @adriana.citizenofnowhere
    https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2024/12/07/adoption-et-trafic-denfants-en-roumanie-une-quebecoise-part-a-la-recherche-de-sa-veritable-identite
    TVA JE Episode: Adoption ou Trafique Humain? Available in Canada or if you have a VPN
  • The Adoption Files

    The Mom Myth: thoughts on my conversation with Cindy Shultz

    01/03/2026 | 18 mins.
    Just a short episode sharing some of what came up for me after talking with mom Cindy Shultz. Reconciling the reality of how the adoption industry uses coercion to separate families with the stereotypes and the myth of Rescue that is presented to adopted people is an ongoing struggle for me.
    As my (now retired) therapist used to ask: How is that story serving you?
    The opinion of the host is just that, their opinion. The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.
    Thank you for listening! Please rate and review, as this helps to make the podcast more visible.
  • The Adoption Files

    Open Adoption is Not the Answer: a conversation with Cindy Shultz

    01/03/2026 | 1h 6 mins.
    Please join me as I talk with mom Cindy Shultz about her experience with open adoption.
    Cindy Shultz is a mother of church-coerced child loss who transforms lived experience into advocacy. Raised in the shadow of poverty and stigma, Cindy was a mother in crisis when Catholic Charities pressured her into relinquishing her son in a process she felt powerless to stop. This experience of unnecessary child loss is the foundation of her mission to support the systematically oppressed.
    As the founder of Cindy's Family Preservation Alliance and a volunteer for Saving Our Sisters, she provides pregnant women the education and resource navigation she was once denied. Professionally, Cindy serves as a Wellness and Services coordinator at two local shelters, providing holistic case management for unhoused women. She is a certified Holistic Life Coach, Recovery Coach and Laughter Yoga Leader creating healing centered environments that honor the intersections of trauma, substance use, and family separation. Her work is a living testament that healing is possible and that family preservation is a fundamental human right that must be protected. If you are interested in Coaching or the healing power of Laughter Yoga, join her free Skool community Love Our Laughter.
    https://www.facebook.com/familypreservationalliance/
    https://www.skool.com/love-our-laughter-wellness-5520/about
    https://savingoursistersadoption.org/
    The opinions of the host and their guest(s) are just that, our opinions. The host is not a lawyer, therapist or adoption professional.
    All resources shared are shared as a courtesy to the podcasts guests. The host encourages everyone to vet resources for themselves.
    Thank you for listening!

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About The Adoption Files

The Adoption files seeks to provide a place for adoptees and allies to discuss the laws preventing adoptees from accessing their identities, and the emotional and physical challenges adoptees face in the process of dealing with the obstacles we face. We recognize the need to expose the problematic aspects of the adoption industry and the narrative they perpetuate. We will not only talk about the laws and the challenges they create, but also the ways that the mythology around adoption impacts the way we move through our lives, as adopted people and as mothers and other family members.
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