In episode of Voices of Adoption, Anthony Akerman, the acclaimed South African playwright and author, dives deeper into his adoption journey and the meaning behind his memoir title "Lucky Bastard." Anthony shares the remarkable coincidences that surrounded him long before his adoption reunion - from university classmates to teachers married to his cousins and paths unknowingly crossed with biological relatives throughout his life. He reveals how adoption shaped his relationships, leading to repetitive patterns of abandonment, choosing partners who would abandon him, and how therapy helped him understand his "repetition compulsion." Anthony also explores the literary connections between adoption stories, from Oedipus to Moses, and how storytelling became his path to healing. Despite recent health challenges, Anthony maintains his perspective as a "lucky bastard" - someone who found two families, healing, and happiness after decades of searching for belonging.

When South African playwright Anthony Akerman discovered he was adopted at age 10, his adoption journey took a dramatic turn. For nearly three decades, sealed adoption records kept him from knowing his birth name was actually Peter Farnham or that his birth father was heir to a famous wine dynasty. At 38, Anthony finally gained access to identifying information, leading to an emotional adoption reunion with his birth mother at 40. But their relationship became a rollercoaster of connection and rejection, with his birth mother eventually abandoning him again years later. Anthony's adoption story in his memoir "Lucky Bastard" chronicles how being an adopted child shaped his identity, fueled abandonment issues in relationships, and drove his decades-long search for birth parents. This episode explores why adoptees need origin stories, the complexities of adoption reunions, and how the search for biological family can heal - even when the endings aren't perfect. You'll hear about the moment everything Anthony believed about himself shattered and how that discovery launched an adoption search across continents.

Find out more about Anthony Akerman:

Bio (theatrelives.co.za) - anthony-akerman

LinkedIn - anthony-akerman

Dr. Abigail Hasberry lived two versions of her adoption story: the one her parents told her, and the one she discovered later. As a Black child raised in a white Irish Catholic family, she spent her childhood moving from country to country, watching Black culture through a TV screen she couldn't step into. In this episode of Voices of Adoption, hosts Donna Pope and Nathan Gwilliam sit down with Dr. Hasberry, a therapist specializing in adoption trauma, who reveals why adoptive parents must fall in love with their child's culture before they fall in love with the child, and what happens when they don't. She breaks down the hidden attachment issues that plague nearly every adoptee, explains why traditional therapy often fails transracial adoptees, and shares the breakthrough brain spotting technique that finally helped her process decades of unresolved trauma. This conversation will change how you think about adoption, identity, and what it really means to give a child a home.