In this episode of Color Shift, we sit down with Abby, a Chinese adoptee who has recently begun the vulnerable process of “coming out of the fog.”

Abby was supposedly found as an infant at a train station in China and adopted to Alaska at about 14 months old. Growing up as an only child in a family that traveled and lived internationally, she always knew she was adopted—but for years, she distanced herself from her Asian identity and kept her story at arm’s length. It wasn’t until recently that Abby began unpacking what adoption truly means for her, and with that, all the emotions and realizations that come with it.

In our conversation, Abby reflects on her childhood, the complexities of denying and then reclaiming identity, and the tender, sometimes disorienting work of beginning to see adoption through a new lens. Her honesty reminds us that the adoptee journey is not linear—and that stepping into truth often happens in layers, at the right time.

This is a story about awakening, self-recognition, and the courage it takes to start asking deeper questions.

Find Abby on:

IG: @globalabby

Blog: https://www.justthisamateurwriter.com

Helpful Chinese adoptee based links

• Chinese Adoptee Collective Conference https://chineseadopteecollective.com/
• Nanchang project: https://www.nanchangproject.com/
• Chinese Children International: https://chinaschildreninternational.org/
• International Child Search Alliance: https://www.icsachina.org/

Book recs

• Messages From an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran
• One Child by Mei Fong
• The Primal Wound by Nancy Newton

Documenterie recs.

• Meet me at the bridge: Youtube
• Somewhere Between: Youtube
• Found: Netflix
• One Child Nation: Amazon Prime

Support the show

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/color_shift_tra?igsh=em5ka3hkMXJxODA5

TicTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@colorshifttransra?_t=ZP-8wOIvdcK7ah&_r=1

Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

In this episode, we sit down with Rob, a Korean adoptee raised in Denver, Colorado. Rob shares his adoption story, from his early months in foster care to growing up in a family that embraced openness and love. He talks about starting his birth family search as a teenager, the relationships that have grown from that journey, and the powerful role Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families has played in his life — first as a camper for over a decade and now as a counselor. This conversation explores the importance of cultural connection, community, and staying rooted in both personal history and shared identity.

Link to the Heritage Camp: Heritage Camps For Adoptive Families | Colorado Family Camp

Rob's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robreese20?igsh=MXZuOHdlNHNkN3V0bw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Support the show

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/color_shift_tra?igsh=em5ka3hkMXJxODA5

TicTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@colorshifttransra?_t=ZP-8wOIvdcK7ah&_r=1

Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

Today on Color Shift, I’m honored to be joined by Dewi—a powerful voice in the adoptee community whose story spans continents, generations, and identities.

Dewi was born in Indonesia in 1978 and adopted as an infant by white American parents. Renamed "Amy" and raised in white suburbia, she spent years navigating life in silence—until reclaiming her birth name and reconnecting with both birth parents as an adult. She now identifies as a displaced Indigenous person.

Dewi is a mother, a birth mother, and a vocal advocate for adoptee healing. She uplifts spaces like Adoption Mosaic and is the creator of MY NAME IS NOT AMY—a documentary about her boldly reclaiming her identity.

In this conversation, we talk about names, reunion, and what it means to mother yourself while mothering others. Dewi speaks through adoption with truth, depth, and dignity.

Links:

https://www.eight16creative.com/

https://www.mynameisnotamy.com/

Adoption Mosaic: https://adoptionmosaic.com/

Support the show

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/color_shift_tra?igsh=em5ka3hkMXJxODA5

TicTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@colorshifttransra?_t=ZP-8wOIvdcK7ah&_r=1

Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com