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The Challenges of Adoption

Host Tom Fudge talks with adoption expert Dr. Marlou Russel about the current challenges facing participants in the adoption process. Seema Sueko and Kimber Lee from Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company

The Challenges of Adoption

Tom Fudge: There are many adoptions that have happy endings. And we find that remarkable because every adoption begins with a profound sadness: Namely, a mother and a father that either cannot or will not care for their children. You could say that overcoming that sadness is, in some way, the story of every adoptive relationship.

Adoption comes in many forms, and recently society is changing its attitude toward adoptions by encouraging more openness. The old way of doing things has been full of secrecy. Some say that secrecy is necessary. Some say it only amplifies a feeling of shame. 

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During the rest of this hour, we're going to talk about the adoption process. And you'll hear about a new play, in San Diego, that examines the effect of adoption on all parties involved.

The Adoption Project: Triad is currently playing at Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company through April 1st. Mo'olelo performs in Balboa Park.

Guests

  • Dr. Marlou Russel , psychologist and marriage and family therapist. She is also an adoptee who has reunited with her birth parents. She is the author of Adoption Wisdom: A Guide to the Issues and Feelings of Adoption.
  • Kimber Lee wrote the play The Adoption Project: Triad , which was commissioned by San Diego's Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company. 
  • Seema Sueko , artistic director of the Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company and she directs the play The Adoption Project.

End Music:   Etouffee Brutus?   by Alison Brown, from the album Look Left (1994)