James Axiotis was born in Athens, Greece, to an unwed mother named Georgia Korakis. With no support for single mothers at the time, he was handed over to the authorities after a week in the hospital.

Between the late 1950s and 1960s, thousands of Greek children were sent abroad, many to the United States. The numbers vary, but estimates often range from 5,000 to 7,000. James was one of those children.

James shares with us his adoption story, his search for identity, and the inspiration behind his short film Georgia, a tribute to the mother he never got to thank.

From our An Adoption Story series. You can watch her documentary story on Alex Gilbert's YouTube channel.

Daniela Brown was adopted from Romania when she was just three years old, during a period of great change in the country’s history. She was born in the Jilava Prison in Romania and spent the first three months of her life there with her birth mother, Angelica, before being taken to an orphanage called Numero Uno in Bucharest.At three years old, Daniela’s life changed when she was adopted by the Browns, a couple from the Whangaparāoa, Auckland region in New Zealand. For years, Daniela knew very little about her beginnings and it wasn’t until her late twenties that she began to uncover pieces of her past and learn more about where she came from.This is her story.

Jon was adopted in the UK at the age of four and later returned to care as a teenager. For decades, he believed his birth father had died.

A DNA test in his mid-50s led to an unexpected discovery that changed everything.

In this episode, Jon reflects on adoption, loss, reunion, and what it means to finally find answers later in life.