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Intercountry and Transracial Adoptee Experiences of Search and Reunion
Australia, like several other western countries, is home to many intercountry and transracial adopted people taken into local families over the past fifty years. Similar to other adopted people, these intercountry adoptees are likely, at some point in their adult lives, to seek their personal information, want to explore their origins and, where possible, find […]
Thomas Graham
August 5, 2016
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Men Living With Their Adoption
Michael it is three years since we first met at the adoption retreat organised by the Benevolent Society at the Brahma Kumaris Spiritual Centre in Wilton. I recall we were a group of seventeen adopted people who came together, over three days, to engage more deeply with our adoption experience and explore pathways to healing. […]
Thomas Graham
August 4, 2016
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Removing Anonymity Does Not Reduce Donor Numbers
Sperm donation in Australia was once shrouded in secrecy and donors were forced to be anonymous, even if they did not want to. After learning some of the lessons from adoption, as well as listening to the voices of the donor conceived, practice and policy regarding donor conception began to change. No longer would donors […]
Damian Adams
July 17, 2016
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Begin Again – A Workshop for Adult Adoptees
I spoke with Sherry Hearn about her counselling / coaching business and the one day workshop she is offering to adopted people at Relationships Australia on 17 September 2016, in Adelaide. Sherry, you are an adopted person, born in New Zealand, in the 1970s. You grew up in Christchurch and Hawaii before studying at […]
Thomas Graham
July 5, 2016
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A Conversation with Gary Coles about Forgotten Fathers
Gary, you are the father of a son who was relinquished for adoption shortly after his birth in 1967. During your life you have written extensively about the invisibility of fathers in adoption. You are also a campaigner for fathers’ rights. On Tuesday 28 June 2016 SBS ONE TV will go to air with an […]
Thomas Graham
June 19, 2016
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Reconnecting Heartlines to Bloodlines
Heartlines – The Year I Met My Other Mother is a new memoir exploring the adoption legacy of Robin and Susannah, mother and daughter separated at birth – at Robin’s choosing – who meet again half a century later – at Susannah’s choosing. Their reunion occurring fairly recently, and rapidly, once locating each other in […]
Thomas Graham
June 18, 2016
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The Effects of Adoption – Training for Health Professionals
Anyone who has lived with their adoption experience over the past 60 to 70 years, whether as a mother, father or as an adopted person, will know how difficult it’s been to find a health professional who understood the challenges of living with an adoption legacy or who could offer an appropriate support therapy. After […]
Thomas Graham
June 8, 2016
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Reflecting on Adoption – Interview with Sofie Gregory about short film Loss and Connection
I spoke to Sofie Gregory about her adoption experience and the short film, Loss and Connection she was involved with late last year. Readers should watch the nine minute film first as the interview relates to the content of the short film. Sofie you are an adopted person from the closed adoption era. Dealing with loss […]
Thomas Graham
May 5, 2016
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In Conversation with Margaret Watson about her book Surviving Secrets
It’s several years since your memoir Surviving Secrets was published and I reviewed it for the Australian Journal of Adoption. How has your life been in the intervening years since the book went to print? Thank you for that review Thomas and your support for my memoir. It is coming up to 7 years since […]
Thomas Graham
April 22, 2016
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In Conversation with Maria Haenga-Collins, adopted person and PhD Candidate
I spoke to Maria Haenga-Collins, a PhD candidate in the Australian Centre for Indigenous History (School of History) at the Australian National University, about her studies and her experience of adoption. Maria is a Māori (Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Ngāi Tahu) woman who was first fostered, then adopted, into a Pākehā (white) family in the mid […]
Thomas Graham
April 16, 2016