About the Episode

Haley Radke is a powerful voice and fierce advocate on the issue of adoption. She approaches the subject with courage, empathy, compassion, and vulnerability. She joins the Inner Circle to discuss her own personal adoption story, her 5 part series on addiction and adoption, the ups and downs of reunion and secondary rejection, and her success in creating a platform for others with the Adoptees On podcast. Haley gives advice for those living a similar journey and searching for solace and understanding.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode: When and why Haley decided she needed to create the Adoptees On Podcast to connect with others and remind them they weren’t alone in their story of adoption. What lessons being an adoptee has brought her, and how she processed the reality of being adopted. Haley’s personal story of adoption, and the emotional experience of connecting with her birth grandparents. The different ways parents tell kids they are adopted, and which ones Haley finds problematic. The deep feelings of being unwanted and rejected that typically come with adoption, and how her birth grandfather shifted that feeling to love and welcoming. Haley’s first encounter with her birth mother, and how it led to a secondary rejection that deeply hurt her. Why the reunion with her birth father was filled with peaks in the honeymoon period and valleys in the aftermath. How the relationship with her birth father benefitted from having structure and boundaries. When it went from reunion to real life for Haley in her new modern family. What the Adoptees On podcast has done for others and the community of support it has created. The 5 part series she did on adoptees and addiction, and the shocking conclusions it led her to find about the connection between the two. Her keynote about telling the truth about adoption, and what the experience was like. How we can best support a loved one that is adopted and going through a similar experience as Haley.

Quotes: “It felt like I just had to share my story.” “You wonder where you came from.” “You are so focused on the one person you want a connection with.” “It’s a temporary crisis, but you are giving up a connection forever.” “Listen, and don’t tell us how to feel. Ask the questions that you are curious about.” “There’s a whole bunch of experiences in adoption, but a lot of us have a lot of pain.”

Mentioned: Adoptees On Edmonton Adoptees Connect Support Group Twitter: @HaleyRadke | @AdopteesOn Instagram: @HaleyRadke | @AdopteesOn Facebook: Haley Radke Podcaster | Adoptees On Podcast Journey Into the Inner Circle: Carrie Doll @CarrieADoll – Twitter @carriedollconsulting – Instagram Carrie Doll – Facebook

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