Lynn Grubb

WHIO Reports Taping 3.16.17 I was really excited to be included in the WHIO Reports segment called Adoption in the Miami Valley (Go here  to see it).  Senator Bill Beagle, Adoptee Becky Drinnen and myself were all chosen for our involvement with Adoption Network Cleveland and their efforts to change a law that disallowed a group of adopted people access to their own records. The show was in response to the new law and to acknowledge the two-year anniversary of the opening of birth certificates and adoption files on March 20, 2017.  I am so pleased to have this story in the media and even more pleased that it was local to where I live and grew up. The video  you see during the show is (above) from the documentary called An Adoptee Roared in Ohio by Jean Strauss that tells the story of Betsie Norris, Executive Director of Adoption Network Cleveland.  I urge you to watch the whole thing.  There is a twist in the story that we didn't have time t...

Rhonda Churchill Patty Hawn Brian Stanton performs "BLANK" For more information about the conference and to sign up, go  here

It’s a rare moment when I can turn on a T.V. show that has adoption as part of its storyline and not cringe, roll my eyes and talk back to the T.V. about how they just don’t get it.   Sometimes it’s just downright painful to watch the same old stereotypes and adoption rhetoric play out. I don’t have that same experience when I watch NBC’s This is Us .  In fact, there are so many “ I can’t believe they got it right ” moments that it would take a whole series of blogs to ponder them. What the writers really get, is the complexity, that is adoption.  It appears that the writers did their research and interviewed transracial adoptees and read adoptee blogs to understand the complex experiences of being a transracial adoptee. Here is a list of some of the issues that are addressed in This is Us : *loyalty *fear of loss *abandonment *fear of being different *racial and sexual identity *identity crisis *reunion *family secrets *being gifted ...

The day I came home to my family (2-25-66) Today is my birthday. Traditionally, growing up I loved my birthday.  My mom always made me my favorite meal (lasagna) and chocolate cake with chocolate icing.  It was nothing extravagant like kid birthday parties are today.  It was just the four of us -- mom, dad, my brother Scott and me.  And that was enough.  There were no expectations that we would go to Bounce U, Laser Quest, McDonald's or have ponies parading in the yard.  I kind of miss those simple times. Having a December birthday, many people feel "ripped off" when they get the famous combo gift at Christmas, but that was not the case for me at all.  Far enough away but still able to take in the Christmas excitement on my birthday.  My 16th birthday was the best because I was able to invite four or five of my closest high school friends over to the house.  There was no drinking -- just cutting up and having fun. Birthdays as I got o...

Photo credit: Adoptionlearningpartners.org If I had a quarter for everytime somebody said the statement, "My ______ is not interested in searching" I could go on a nice vacation. Somebody said it to me me this week.  I cannot remember who but I remember it being said and it causes my mind to swirl with emotions and begin to shut down. I react to this statement viscerally because I'm sure it could have been said about me at some point in my life. And on top of that, I feel that this statement is a way of  negating anything I ever said to that person about my own adoption search, anything that they have ever heard me say about adoption or read that adoptees experience being adopted -- and even everything they heard from their adopted friend/cousin/niece/nephew/grand child) who doesn't want to search gets thrown into the box.  Then the box is labeled " Adoptee who Doesn't Feel Like You. " It may sound dramatic and you may accuse me of over-reac...

The yellow is my 11% Irish :) You've seen the commercials . . . . . .she didn't know she was Native American . . . .he didn't realize he was Italian . . . . . .but what the commercials don't tell you is that by simply paying $99.00 and shipping your spit off to Ancestry, you can learn this. . . . . . . . 1.  The name of your biological father that left you were when you were too small to know the story of what really happened. 2.  Your mother gave up a child (your sibling) in the 1970's before you were born and before she married your father. 3.  Your parents never mentioned you were actually adopted. 4.  Friends or neighbors you personally know are actually related to you. 5.  Your father was busy in the 1980's and you have several new siblings to prove it. Ok, all of these situations sound pretty shocking and your first reaction might be, "But I don't want to know!" Fair enough. However, knowing that you have a different b...

NCSL-Minneapolis, MN - 2014 The Adoptee Rights Coalition is gearing up for another exciting opportunity to speak with state legislatures and their staff members about sponsoring bills in closed record states for equal rights for adoptee access to original birth certificates. This year will be different in that we will be educating lawmakers on the boom in DNA/genetic genealogy testing and that through this testing, there is no longer any reasonable expectation that privacy or anonymity exists between a parent and their offspring (adopted or not). For $99.00, anyone can purchase a DNA test and be matched up with cousins and sometimes, close family members, who also have tested.  Just a few years ago, it was only a lucky few who were getting close matches.  Nowadays, people are getting first cousin, grandparent and sibling matches on a regular basis. I myself have a first cousin match at Ancestry which has allowed me to see which of my other matches are maternal versus...