What Makes a Family?

It’s 2022, and Diego has a mission: to reclaim his Guatemalan citizenship. But on the ground in Guatemala City, he finds that his identity as an adoptee is still complicated, even 23 years later. Diego asks his birth mother if he can meet his birth father, Cristobal — but it’s un ... Show More

We hear from a family whose adoption was in-progress when the Guatemalan government shut everything down. A few years after his fateful diagnosis, Diego is a surly teenager. The family’s figuring out a way forward. Laurie takes Diego back to Guatemala, where he learns about the m ... Show More

When Diego turns 12, he’s diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, and his entire world turns inside out. The family goes into survival mode. Sick and angry Diego acts out — and Laurie and Dan struggle with how to parent him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic ... Show More

“I've been kind of a student of family secrets all my life,” writer Dani Shapiro says. All of her novels have centered around family secrets, and her memoirs have explored secrets in her own family history, some of which she didn’t know existed—until she took a DNA test on a whim ... Show More

What's it like being adopted into a country far away from your birth and into a family that looks very different to you? International and transracial adoptions both come with challenges for children and parents. Beatriz de la Pava talks to two women born in Colombia and South Ko ... Show More

On this episode of Our American Stories, Texan author Winter Prosapio tells the story of how motherhood and the bond with her daughter changed her perspective on life; Peter Mutabazi shares how he escaped his abusive father in Uganda, Africa and became a foster parent in America; ... Show More

The truth of his wife’s affair and son’s parentage uncovered, Eadweard shot off to Calistoga, California with murderous intent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

On this episode: Elizabeth, Zak, and Jamilah answer a question from a listener who is feeling left behind by her friends who are parents. She says she’s really tried to be supportive and isn’t receiving support in return, especially when she’s celebrating accomplishments like ear ... Show More

Dans ce nouvel épisode, je reçois dans mon cabinet Valérie, maman de Gabriel, 13 ans. Elle évoque l’adoption de son fils, son entrée dans l’adolescence et les questions que cette période charnière suscite. Johanne Lemieux, spécialiste de l’enfant adopté et de sa famille, réagit à ... Show More

Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. was born in Sierra Leone, and when he was eight years old, his mom brought him to live with her in the States. Then, when he was a teenager, his mom got sick and passed away. In the years since, Saidu has struggled with how distant he felt from his mom, oft ... Show More

Dr. Gabor Maté, physician and child development expert, takes a deep dive into healthy child development: what conditions are necessary for it, which of those factors are missing from our society, and what parents can do to compensate for it. To unlock the key to healthy child de ... Show More