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

Jeffrey: Untangling the Layers of a Corrupt Adoption

May 16, 2023 Louise Browne & Sarah Reinhardt Season 3 Episode 25
Adoption: The Making of Me. An Oral History of Adoptee Stories
Jeffrey: Untangling the Layers of a Corrupt Adoption
Show Notes

Jeffrey Leventhal was born In 1970 in Miami, FL, and didn’t learn until age 12 that he was adopted. He was told that he had a twin, which was just one of several lies that persisted throughout his childhood. Having never felt like he fit in and being rebuffed by his adoptive family whenever he requested more information, when Jeff was in his 20s, he decided to dive deep into his adoption only to find out there were no records of his adoption… or his birth.

Finally, over 20 years later with the help of DNA, he found the information he needed to reconnect with his natural mother, a life-changing event that allowed him to start filling the hole inside that plagues many adoptees.

But the adoption mystery still wasn’t solved - he found out that his adoption papers came from Juarez, Mexico involving a corrupt adoption agent, a disbarred lawyer, and a delivery doctor who went to jail.

Jeff has found that meeting and talking to other adoptees has helped validate his feelings and meeting his natural family has helped him understand himself better.

He has been fortunate in many ways and hopes to use his resources to reach more adoptees in search of answers and help to leave this world with fewer adoptions happening, keeping more babies within their natural families and telling the true story of adoption and its effects on people and society. 

Also in this episode, Sarah and Louise discuss Megan Culhane Galbraith’s “The Guild of The Infant Saviour”.

Joe Soll & other adoptee resources

"The Guild of the Infant Saviour" by Megan Culhane Galbraith

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