I’m an adoptee, raised in a loving family, and I grew up knowing there was more beneath the surface of my story than anyone talked about.
Like many adoptees, I learned how to be grateful, how to be “fine,” and how to keep the harder questions quiet. It took years to understand how much adoption shapes a person’s sense of identity, safety, and belonging. Not just in childhood, but across a lifetime.
Today, my husband and I are parenting four children, all adopted through foster care. Our family story includes joy and deep connection, but it also includes trauma, mental illness, grief, and seasons that look nothing like what we imagined when we said yes to adoption.
Parenting children with complex needs has changed me. It has humbled me, stretched me, and forced me to let go of easy answers in favor of deeper understanding.
And it’s why I do this work.
I know what it feels like to be the child trying to make sense of their story, and I know what it feels like to be the parent holding that story with love, fear, and a thousand unanswered questions
I don’t believe families need more pressure, more rules, or more performative positivity. I believe they need honesty, support, and language for what they’re living. I believe healing is possible even when the road is messy, slow, or nothing like you hoped it would be.
I speak, write, and teach about adoption and trauma from a place that holds both sides of the story: the child and the parent. My work centers on helping parents understand what’s underneath behavior, naming the grief and complexity that often go unspoken in adoption, supporting families navigating mental illness and high-needs parenting, and shifting the focus from “fixing” kids to building safety and connection.
I also serve as the Director of Community at Parenting Different, where I support foster and adoptive parents through trauma-informed education, honest conversation, and community care. I help create spaces where parents don’t have to pretend they’re okay, minimize their struggles, or carry everything alone. Everything I share is rooted in lived experience, ongoing learning, and a deep respect for the families doing the hard work of parenting adopted children well.
You don’t have to do this perfectly.
You don’t have to do it alone.
And you don’t have to pretend it’s easier than it is.
I’m really glad you found your way here.