Adoptee Meets World

This episode we are diving into an adoption story from Guatemala to the US. We touch on feelings towards birth families, growing up and our attachment styles, and how all various challenges of adoption follow us into our early adulthood. Sit back with your favorite fall beverage and enjoy this episode! Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Ally: (Instagram, @allyvictoria24) Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

This week we share an interview we had the privilege of doing with Liza Mei Stone, podcast host of, “I'm Adopted, Now What?”. We dive into the complexities of dealing with our identities and its impact on how we move around in the world from the food we choose to order at restaurants to how we decide to decorate our homes. Connecting to our birth countries and culture as adoptees presents unique challenges and in this episode Liza shares with us how she has worked to accept herself, find happiness, and continue her healing journey of embracing being an adoptee. Sit back, and enjoy! Be sure to check out her podcast too! Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Liza Mei Stone: (Instagram: @lizameistone) I'm Adopted, Now What?: (Instagram: @imadoppted.podcast) Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**Trigger Warning** We will be talking about fetishization of Asian women, racism, sexism, and the Atlanta, Georgia shooting. It's Libby and I today, reflecting on the tragic shooting in Georgia. We are going to have an uncomfortable talk about the events that happened, possible motives, our reactions, and how we are feeling now. Without spoiling too much about the episode, when we can tell you is that our hearts are heavy, we are angry, sad, frustrated, and scared. If there are younger listeners with you, you may want to listen to this episode first. We understand this episode and the shooting can be triggering, if you feel you need to talk to a professional please do. Libby and I are here and extend our love and support to those who need it, but we aren't professionals. Suicide Hotline is 800-273-8255. AAPI Hate Crime Reporting: stopaapihate.org/reportincident Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

Sit back and get ready to listen to this episode with Korean American adoptee Lia Stapinski. In this conversation she shares with us her experience growing up and what it's like trying to navigate her birth culture as an adoptee. She also dives into what exactly cultural disappointment can feel like as an adoptee as she shares insight on her personal experiences and thoughts. I am also introducing to the AMW community formally for the first time my new small business! I have a passion for jewelry making, particularly silversmithing at this moment. Check out my Instagram for some unique, adoptee-made pieces! Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Instagram (Addison's Jewelry business): @addisoncoryell Instagram (Lia Stapinski): @liastaps Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**Trigger Warning: Brief mention of the Holocaust 34:50- 35:43** We welcome 2021 but with some important acknowledgements. In reference to the horrific events on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol, AMW condemns white supremacy, violence, and hate. It is important that we are publicly sharing our value of accepting others. If AMW does not mention an important topic, please let us know and we will do our best to share the word with you! To further kick off this year, we are with our very first international guest who is a domestic adoptee from the UK. He is also an adoption coach; you can find a link to his website below. In this episode, Simon shares how his teddy bear pivoted him in a new direction. He shares what he has learned over fourteen years of learning about adoption and what he can do now. Simon's insight on identity and self is for everyone: Adoptive Parents (AP's), adoptees, and those who are simply curious. Simon Benn: Website: https://www.simonbenn.co.uk Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**TW: ABUSE, SEXUAL MENTAL AND PHYSICAL** This week we're taking some time to reflect on our younger selves. We're going to share words of encouragement and advice we wish we would have had growing up. Libby and I will also be sharing this space with a guest, Ming Foxweldon. She is a grounding voice of the Asian Adoptee community and we are so excited to have her here with us! Sit back and enjoy this episode! Ming Foxweldon: IG- @mingaling44 Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

This episode is in honor of NAAM, National Adoption Awareness Month. We have the privilege of celebrating it with Mei Kelly, a special guest with us who we met through AMW. She will be taking this time to share her adoption story and open up about her experience living in China and Taiwan as an Asian American adoptee. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode! Where to follow Mei Kelly on Instagram: @meik_mk Adoption Beat: http://www.adoptionbeat.org Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

This week Libby and I are tackling how we respond to common questions and comments we get as adoptees. Knowing how to respond can be difficult. Sometimes we are not in a headspace where we want to talk about our adoption and would rather find an out, or we feel we are ready to share that part of our identity. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, both are valid. Hopefully you find this episode useful, share with us your responses! We'd love to hear what you have to say. Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

Give this episode a listen to hear AMW's latest news! This episode we share some tough lessons we've learned in our 23 years of being alive. We have had to trust in ourselves, take leaps of faith, and forgive to get where we are today as individuals and as sister-figures to one another. Please join us in this episode and enjoy! Hopefully you learn something too, and we hope to hear from the AMW community about things you've learned! Follow Libby Friedman Qin on instagram: @libbyanmeng Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

Catch up with Libby and I as we share our Gotcha Day experiences and use this episode to celebrate our own. We share our honest truths and feelings towards the celebratory day many families brought together through adoption experience and how our relationship has changed with it over the years. Let us know your Gotcha Day traditions! Follow Libby Friedman Qin on instagram: @libbyanmeng Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Credits: Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**Disclaimer: This conversation is strictly from my perspective only; I am not trying to create a competition of oppression between groups, but I am only speaking on the history of the Asian Model Minority Myth, addressing my own experience, and the reality of racism** This week I share my own experiences around dealing with the Asian Model Minority Myth before and after learning what it is. Adolescence can be a difficult time as we really begin our life-long journey of self discovery and start gaining independence. I am also very honest about racism around the myth and in the US. Please feel free to send me a message about how you've dealt with the Asian Model Minority Myth or how it has impacted you. Announcement: I have a new posting schedule! Follow me on Instagram for the latest updates on when new episodes will be uploaded. Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**Trigger Warning** ** Discussion of the sexualization of Asian women in society. 44:58-59:21-The idea of putting a monetary value on a person's life, and judging how an individual or couple goes about family planning is not okay. It is not okay to ask the “cost” of an adoptee just like it isn't okay to ask someone how much they're paying for a donor, IVF, or a surrogate. Everything costs money these days, and to value a person's life based on the choices their parents' family planning decisions is not okay. As said in the podcast, Libby and I are criticizing the idea that people ask us about how much we cost as adoptees, but this question is not put on others who expanded their families through other methods (as far as we are aware, we could be wrong.) Bottom line, having a family is costly; the monetary investment can fluctuate, but the value of someone's life does not. No matter how someone came into this world or how a family grew, does not diminish the value of individuals.** This episode covers the struggles Asian American adoptees face growing up in the US. Libby and I are reaffirming our legitimacy as members of the Asian community and sharing the loopholes we have to go through due to only knowing so much about our pasts. However, because we are oftentimes members of this community while growing up in Caucasian families, other members of the Asian community or other people might see our experiences as less, or watered down. This is not the case. Here, we are criticizing and challenging societal norms and question ethical practices around adoption. If you would like to add to the discussion, please do! You can send an email or direct message on Instagram. Libby Friedman Qin (Instagram): @libbyanmeng Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**TRIGGER WARNING** We discuss racism in depth, & experiences during COVID-19 Being Asian American in the US can already have its own challenges. This week, two of my friends and I are discussing how being Asian American has impacted us while working as Peace Corps Volunteers in Guatemala. As you listen to this episode, please know that these are our own experiences. We know that there are other individuals who hold the same or different identities and that they have had their own unique experiences, good and bad. We don't want to speak for the Peace Corps community because that isn't possible; we are just here to share what it was like for us to be in Guatemala as US citizens who don't fit the typical US stereotypes. Our views and stories that we share do not reflect the beliefs of the Peace Corps except that they are our own and from our experiences in three different parts of Guatemala. We are honest, and not everything and what we went through was happy-go-lucky. We had days that tested our patience and mental strength. We share some laughs and reminisce, but we are still healing and reflecting from the experience. We hope that through our stories a platform is opened to begin more of these difficult conversations as well. Jing Murray: (Instagram) @jingmurray Vicki Lee: (Instagram) @oh_vicki_you_so_fine Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

Today's conversation dives into how I have struggled with my identity. More times than not, I don't know exactly where I fit in or how I can. I manage to find where I feel mostly comfortable and work with that. As a transracial adoptee, I have dealt with negative experiences that lead me to be upset with where I came from. I have also tried too hard to fit into places I thought I was supposed to fit into; in other words, I would try to meet the societal or stereotypical norms of, in this case, a “good Asian”. Finding my sense of place or identity hasn't gotten easier, but I have found comfort regardless of the expectations others have of me. By the end of this episode, I hope you're left feeling like you can make some sense of your beautifully complex identity. Please send me a message and let me know what you think of this episode and what you'd like to hear next! Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**Trigger Warning** I think it is difficult to meet a person in this world who doesn't feel at least a little bit lost or unsure. Many of us might feel as if we are going through the motions and taking on whatever life hands us. As we enter young adulthood we wonder what jobs we should go into, where we should go to college, if we should go to college, who our friends are, and where we belong. While searching for identity, feelings of confusion are normal; but when the layer of adoption is brought into everything, it can begin to complicate things on a unique level. This episode, I will take you through my search for identity and dive into how I have navigated this during my young adulthood. **In the beginning of this episode, I address my feelings on Black Lives Matter and mention the passing of Civil Rights Movement activist John Lewis. I have a raw and honest reflection and open up about how I am dealing with what is happening in the US. Strong language is used. At time marks 19:56-20:04 I also mention full-term abortions and discarding of babies in China during the One Child Policy. 26:04-26:19, I include a brief description of a Chinese Social Welfare Institute based on the one I came from.** Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**DISCLAIMER** This week, Libby and I continue part 2 of our conversation. We spend this time diving into themes around our birth families and how adoption has impacted our family life. Being an adoptee goes beyond the initial adoption process; it oftentimes heavily impacts an adoptee's life far into adulthood, positively or negatively. This just a quick snapshot of our journeys of where we're at in our adoption process. We are so thankful to have this AMW platform to share the experience with others and hopefully provide a new point of view and insight. As always, please receive this episode with love and understanding. If you have anything to share, please reach out to me or Libby through e-mail or Instagram! **Libby and I both understand either of us could have biological child with disabilities and we would do whatever we could in our power to properly care for them. That said, in this episode what is being referred to is the potential weight a decision to adopt a child who has a disability could hold. Adoption is not easy. Adopting a child with disabilities is not easy. We hope that a family who chooses to adopt a child who is labeled disabled or not by the orphanage can be as prepared as possible for this new journey.** Follow Libby Friedman Qin on instagram: @libbyanmeng Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

**Trigger Warning** This episode will begin a two-part reflection that Libby Friedman Qin, AMW's first guest, and I have regarding many common themes that adoptees face. In this episode, we share our honest feelings and we are very explicit with what we say. The intention of this episode is to have an un-filtered conversation where we can share our experiences growing up and how we see the adoption process from our eyes. **There is a brief reference to sexual assault as we discuss potential reasons behind being put up for adoption. We also criticize adoption and how, as an adoptee, it can seem like a picking and choosing experience, that adoption was a second choice, or a last resort.** While I do recognize this can come across as offensive to adoptive parents who may have put down various age/sex/health requirements when in the adoption process, Libby and I also trust that when parents mark these boundaries it comes from a place of love to ensure a successful adoption, however you may define that. As always, I hope that any parents who adopted or prospective adoptive parents receive this episode with empathy. As I challenge you to sit with the discomfort of being an adoptee, I also urge adoptees, myself included, to respect the difficulties that our families experienced prior to, and through the adoption. As I always say, it is a complex and messy thing, but at the end of the day, we should look at it with love. Follow Libby Friedman Qin on instagram: @libbyanmeng Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

Adoption is a rich experience that grows families, brings cultures together, and is sugarcoated. Although we don't always examine the hurdles adoptees and adoptive families hit in the road when on this path, I've compiled a list of often overlooked themes based on personal experiences and conversations I have had with fellow adoptees. This is not a concrete guide on how to have the perfect adoption, because that doesn't exist. Hopefully by the end you're not feeling deterred from adopting but more aware of things that could become a part of your life if adoption is in it. Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

This episode I will talk about the Black Lives Matter movement and how I am working to better myself. I know my process and I aren't perfect, but I hope this episode helps others find ways to support, or to hear new ways they can contribute. Supporting a cause where you don't know exactly what it's like to walk in the shoes of the people being oppressed can be difficult and intimidating. At times you may even feel out of place, but I wholeheartedly believe that the discomfort experienced is crucial to positive change. Sources: Timeline: Nat. Geographic timeline of History of Slavery in the US Mississippi CNN Report: Reports CNN Juneteenth: Juneteenth Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

COVID-19 and quarantine, two things that are said a lot these days. Millions are suffering losses on numerous scales and I am one of them. This episode I share with you how I have been coping post job-loss and how I have had to manage in quarantine to help maintain good mental and physical health. If you feel alone, you're not. After you listen to this episode you'll feel a little more ready to begin making small changes for a better you. Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

This episode covers an overview of what it was like for me growing up as a Chinese American adoptee in a predominantly white community. I talk about the first time I felt different, my experience going back to China and my birth city, and where I'm at now. Sit back and turn the volume up, you don't want to miss out on the first episode! Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message

Welcome to AMW! Let's begin peeling away the layers of adoption and get rid of the sugar coated blanket society covers it with. Email: adopteemeetsworld@gmail.com Instagram: @adopteemeetsworld_ Music: What A Wonderful Day by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/addison-coryell/message