Kailee Pedersen

Kailee Pedersen

From Adoptees On by Haley Radke

February 6, 2026 · 49 min · Episode 317

About this episode

Kailee Pedersen discusses her experiences as an adoptee from China, her career as a software engineer, opera singer, and novelist, and the themes of family legacy and trauma in her writing.

317 | Kailee Pedersen Today's guest is the multifaceted Kailee Pedersen: from software engineer to opera singer to novelist! Kailee shares about being adopted from China, growing up in Nebraska, navigating racial isolation and the complexities of searching for family across borders and systems. We also talk about her debut gothic horror novel Sacrificial Animals—how family legacy and intergenerational trauma show up on the page—and her upcoming novel The Minimalist, which features adoptee characters. There is one brief mention of suicide in our conversation. Full Show Notes and Transcript Here Join our adoptee community on Patreon here Check out our upcoming live events here! Find out more about Adoptees for Family Preservation here! Support Haley's new podcast here! This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise…

People in this episode

Host: Haley Radke

Guest: Kailee Pedersen

Topics covered

  • adoption
  • family legacy
  • intergenerational trauma
  • racial isolation
  • gothic horror
  • novel writing

Keywords

  • adoptee
  • China
  • Nebraska
  • gothic horror
  • novel
  • family
  • trauma
  • opera singer

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Sacrificial Animals, The Minimalist

Places: China, Nebraska

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