Lynn: Not a Blank Slate

About this episode

Lynn shares her journey of discovering her true identity after being adopted and the impact of family secrets on her life.

Born in 1970 and adopted as an infant, Lynn grew up believing the story that she was chosen and special, only to later discover that her adoption was a kinship adoption and that the woman she knew as her cousin was actually her birth mother. After finding her birth father through DNA at age 49, more family secrets and painful rejections surfaced, shaping Lynn’s passion for adoptee truth, openness, and educating adoptive parents that adoption is never a blank slate.

People in this episode

Hosts: Louise Browne, Sarah Reinhardt

Guest: Lynn

Topics covered

• adoption
• family secrets
• adoptee truth
• kinship adoption
• openness
• educating parents

Keywords

• adoption
• adoptee
• kinship adoption
• family secrets
• DNA
• birth parents
• openness
• educational

More episodes of Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories

• Samantha: Reunion, Loss, and Self-Acceptance · June 9, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Gabriel: Dance, Identity, and Healing · June 2, 2026 · 1h 6m
• Mary Lynn: From Hidden Story to Search Angel · May 19, 2026 · 54 min
• Diane: The Truth Beneath the Story · May 12, 2026 · 57 min
• Jae: Finding Voice, Claiming Self · May 5, 2026 · 1h 6m
• Virginia: Live Podcast from Austin, Texas · April 28, 2026 · 55 min