I'm Adopted: The Podcast

Simulcast from our An Adoption Story series. Victor was adopted as a young boy and came to Auckland, New Zealand, when he was just four years old. Born in the town of Velikiye Luki in western Russia, his journey began with many unknowns.Now a science teacher and photographer in Christchurch, Victor has built a life full of curiosity, creativity, and meaningful connections in New Zealand. Alongside his everyday life, he continues a deeply personal and emotional journey — that lifelong search for answers about his birth mother.This is his story.

Simulcast from our An Adoption Story series. Valentina always knew she was adopted but never knew her history. When motherhood takes her on an unexpected journey into discovering her past. What follows is a remarkable story of heartbreak, forgiveness and an incredible reunion with a long lost sibling. This is her story.

Simulcast from our An Adoption Story series. Ian was born in Waihi, New Zealand, and adopted as an infant. He didn't discover his adoption until he was 48 years old, at which point he slowly started to find those connections with his birth mother. With the help of his daughter Yolande, Ian then uncovered his previously unknown Māori heritage. This is his story.

Ekaterina Clark's journey began in Syktyvkar, Russia, where she was adopted at the age of three. Raised in New Zealand, she shares her experiences from childhood to discovering her roots and birth family, connecting her past with her present. This is her story. Taken from the An Adoption Story Series which you can watch on YouTube via 'Alex Gilbert'.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Felicita was born in the city of Odesa, Ukraine to then being adopted at the age of 7 months by her Italian parents. She was raised in the small village town of Ascea. A village that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Italy. Felicita has always had an interest in her roots and ever since she could remember, she has always known about the first 7 months of her life in Ukraine. She shares her story growing up in Italy, learning more about her roots and those connections with her birth family. This is her story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Marina was born in Staryi Krym, Crimea to then being adopted out from an orphanage in Simferopol by her Italian parents. With her life in Italy, she has grown up learning more about her roots within Crimea but it wasn't until later on when she started to connect more with her birth family links. She shares her entire journey from the very beginning. This is her story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Iván was adopted at the age of 13 months from Moscow, Russia by his Spanish parents. He was raised on the north coast of Spain, in the city of Santander. He had always known that he had birth family links in Russia but later on when he grew older, he then found out more about having links also in Armenia. With his life growing up in Spain and learning more on his family links, Iván adapted to a new way of life in Chicago. There, he got married to his wife Nicki. Iván also supports those within the adoption community, helping connect with more adoptees in the Spanish speaking community including with I'm Adopted. This is his story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Nina was born from a small village called Bolshaya Vruda which is located just below Saint Petersburg in Russia. She was adopted at the age of three and a half years old by her American parents who then raised her in Rochester, New York. Nina has always been told that she has siblings back in Russia but it wasn't until later on after her childhood that she decided to pursue a search. With the time for her that felt right, she was able to learn more on her birth family, with the difficult circumstance surrounding her birth mother to learning about her twin sister who passed away. For Nina, since learning more on her birth family she has connected more with the adoption community worldwide, building her family tree to build more links and reaching out to others who may be going on a similar experience. She also has played a huge role with the I'm Adopted website as a writer for other adoptees. This is her story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Zachary-Victor was adopted at the age of 8 months from Krasnodar, Russia by his American parents. He was raised in Long Island, New York to moving to Brooklyn to pursue a career in music. Zachary-Victor shares the connections he has made with some of birth family to the support he has from his parents who adopted him. This is his story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Katya Reach was adopted from an orphanage in Donetsk, Ukraine at the age of four years old by her American parents. She was raised in Kansas to then studying psychology in Oklahoma. She now lives her life in Tyler, Texas for her graduate studies. She has always wanted to learn more about her birth family growing up. And with her parents support, she started to make discoveries with the little pieces information that she was given when she was adopted. Katya is also part of many online adoption communities, helping raise awareness through her online writings and blog including with our very own, I'm Adopted community. This is her story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Alexei was born in Velikiye Luki, Russia to then being placed in an orphanage in Pechory. At the age of two and a half, he was then adopted by his New Zealand family. Alexei was born with a birth defect called Spina bifida and with the care of his New Zealand parents, he was able to get the help he needed so that he could walk. He has been able to find links on his birth family with firstly connecting with his birth sister and then birth mother. Alexei shares his story from the beginning, connecting his identity, learning more about his roots and his hopes to meet his birth family for the first time. This is his story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Vanya Syron was adopted from a regional orphanage in Arkhangelsk, Russia in the late 1990s by his New Zealand parents. With information that his parents held onto about his birth family, he managed to get a letter through to his Birth Mother in 2010. Since then, Vanya had lost contact but hopes to re-connect with her and his siblings in Arkhangelsk. This is his story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the support from our friends at MyHeritage. Romanian adoptee Alex (Alexander) Kuch was adopted from Cluj-Napoca, Romania at the age of two by his German parents. His family then moved to New Zealand in 2006. Alex shares his journey of his reconnections with Romania and his birth family. He goes through his story, from the beginnings to revisiting Romania later on in his early adult years. This is his story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Made with the help from our friends at MyHeritage. Mother of three Anya Gibson, lives right down in the far south of New Zealand. She was adopted at the age of four from a regional orphanage (Number 12) inside of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Prior to her adoption, she was looked after by her grandmother but found out later that she was placed into the orphanage due to her grandmother not being able to look after her. She has managed to track down connections but there are still many questions unanswered. She shared with me her journey from the very beginning. This is her story.

Simulcast from an Adoption story. Viktoria was born in the North of Russia, in a city called Severodvinsk. She was adopted at the age five by her New Zealand parents who also adopted another child from the neighbourhood city and my birth city, Arkhangelsk. She connected with her birth mother in 2019 after she reached out to me for help. She is still however, continuing her journey with those connections overseas and hopes to meet more of her family around Russia and Ukraine. This is her story.

Alexei was born in Eastern Ukraine to then moving with his biological family to Velikiye Luki, Pskov, Russia. He was adopted into a New Zealand family at the age of eight. At an early age he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition, Eisenmenger Syndrome. He shares with me his journey, his outlook on life and the connections he has found overseas with his birth family. This is his story.

Recast from our I'm Adopted - Talk, Live Stream. This week Alex Gilbert, Alex Kuch, Daria Rottenberk, Christopher Breedlove and Janna Lamb revisited their High School Years, what was different in High School as an adoptee, what emotions you might have been going through and with yourself, connecting with your own identity. If you have a question to ask for our next live stream, visit imadopted.org/talk.

In this podcast episode, we bring to you the cast from our live Facebook video stream. This week we talk about viewing adoption as young adults with Adoptees Alex Gilbert, Daria Rottenberk, Alex Kuch, Janna Lamb, Chris Breedlove and Katie Zucker. Connecting with more of you around the world, wherever we are. You can watch the video version of this over at Facebook.com/imadoptedOrg

In this podcast episode, we bring to you the cast from our live Facebook video stream. Thank you Russian-American Adoptee Daria Rottenberk, Romanian-New Zealand Adoptee Alex Kuch and Russian-NZ Adoptee Janna Lamb for joining us . Connecting with more of you around the world, wherever we are. You can watch the video version of this over at Facebook.com/imadoptedOrg

In this podcast episode, we bring to you the cast from our live Facebook video stream. This week on the I'm Adopted - Talk live cast we talk with Alex Kuch, Katie Zucker, Kristine Freark and Robert Clifford to talk about those burning questions for adoptees. Connecting with more of you around the world, wherever we are. You can watch the video version of this over at Facebook.com/imadoptedOrg

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Adoptee Alex Kuch is hosting and he talks about the relationships between adoptive siblings.

Welcome to our first Podcast of I'm Adopted for 2020. In this episode, Russian - New Zealand Adoptee Alex Gilbert talks about the current relationship with his birth family in Russia after being in contact for 7 years.

This is our final episode of I'm Adopted for the 2019 season. We will be right back with our new season in the New Year! Thank you so much!

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Romanian Adoptee Alex Kuch is still hosting with us and this week he shares with us his views on the global state of International Adoptions.

This week on I'm Adopted, Romanian-German-Kiwi Adoptee Alexander Kuch is hosting while Alex Gilbert is away. This week Alex talks about his own views on adoption.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, we take a look at some of the incredible stories that were told on our podcast. We revisit Janna Lambs story, Alex Kuch's story, Daria Rottenberk's story and Allyson Duranceau's story.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Romanian Adoptee Alexander Kuch joins us to talk about his views on his birth country, Romania.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Adoptees Alex Gilbert and Alex Kuch talk about what National Adoption Awareness Month means to them.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, we are joined with Romanian-German Adoptee Alex Kuch to talk about our first and earliest memories growing up as an adoptee.

This in this Episode of I'm Adopted, American-Russian Adoptee Allyson Duranceau shares with us her story, about the relationship with her family who raised her in the United States as well as the contact and meet up with her birth family in Moscow, Russia.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Alex Gilbert talks about how his birth parents might have been feeling before meeting him in Russia for the first time in 2013.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Tajikistani-New Zealand Adoptee Sarah Berghan joins us to talk about her story. Sarah was adopted at the age of only one month old from the city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan. She lived there until the age of two years old while her New Zealand parents did missionary work in an orphanage in the same city. She then came to New Zealand with her parents and four siblings. This is her story. Follow Sarah on Social Media - Instagram: @sarah.berghan

In this weeks episode of I'm Adopted, Romanian-German-Kiwi Adoptee Alexander Kuch speaks with Alex Gilbert about the personal and emotional challenges that every adoptee may face across their journey. Every experience is Different.

Alex Schmidt is an Russian-American Adoptee currently residing in Seattle Washington. In this Episode of I'm Adopted he shares with us his story and journey.

In this Episode of I’m Adopted, Russian-American Adoptee Daria Rottenberk joins us to share her story. She was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia and adopted to America when she was six years old. Her story is touching, special and unique. Thank you Daria for joining us this week!

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Romanian-German-Kiwi Adoptee Alex Kuch joins Alex Gilbert to talk about some of the most common questions and challenges asked as an adoptee.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Russian-New Zealand adoptee Alex Gilbert talks about his first impressions of Russia when he met his birth parents for the first time in 2013.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Alex Gilbert talks about his childhood as an adoptee, what he would ask his parents about with his own adoption and the questions that he would often ask.

In this Episode of I'm Adopted, Alex Gilbert organised a talk with his birth father Mihail (Misha) about his life and his relationship with Alex. Mihail only knew about Alex in 2013 when he reached out to him via social media. Alex met Mihail for the first time at the end of 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

In this Episode Russian-New Zealand Adoptee Alex Gilbert talks about the right age to search for your birth family or birth parents. Be honest, be prepared for anything and never give up hope. Do a search only when you feel it's right.

In this episode Alex talks about the importance of I'm Adopted and how the project started in 2015. This month we celebrated four years of the I'm Adopted project.

In this episode, Russian-New Zealand Adoptee Janna Lamb sat down with Alex to talk about why she did the search for her birth family in Russia, what she learnt about visiting them in Russia and why she decided to take the journey herself, with the full support of her New Zealand parents.

In this episode Alex Gilbert sat down with Romanian-German-New Zealand adoptee Alexander Kuch to talk about his story, experience and his work with I'm Adopted.

In this episode, Alex Gilbert talks about taking those small steps with searching for birth family or birth parents. Making your own decision and with taking your own time.

In this Episode Alex Gilbert talks about why it's important to connect with other adoptees, why having that contact and friendship is important. Note: A new podcast is out every Wednesday.

We welcome all of you to the very first podcast for I'm Adopted. In this episode, Alex Gilbert talks about his background and introduces his story about the search for his birth parents in Russia, why having this podcast is important and the importance of connecting others with I'm Adopted. The I'm Adopted Page can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/imadoptedOrg or imadopted.org