In this week’s Safe Home Podcast, Beth talks with Darcy Mittelstaedt, an adult adoptee originally from Korea, and adopted into a dysfunctional family in Nebraska at age 2. Once she came out of the fog, as they say in adoption-land, and came to terms with her relinquishment trauma and chaotic adoptive family life, she turned toward her adoption agency. She now helps inform the adoption agency’s families about relinquishment trauma and the struggles that interculturally adopted people have. Hers is a story of resilience and hope that I’m sure everyone, whether or not you are affected by adoption personally, will appreciate hearing.
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RESOURCES:
Darcy’s information:
Other resources mentioned in this episode:
Other Resources:
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Safe Home is created by Joseph Nakao and Beth Syverson
Music written and performed by Joseph Nakao
Cover art by Joseph Nakao, photo by Beth Syverson
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TIME STAMPS:
1:50 Darcy’s difficult childhood story
5:00 Darcy’s parent’s controlling style
7:49 Food control
10:33 The impact of Darcy’s parents’ divorce
12:14 The end of the road for Darcy
15:45 The family that rescued Darcy
18:05 Darcy’s compliant temperament and the role of the church
24:58 Darcy’s job at Boys Town
27:01 How Darcy collaborates with her adoption agency
32:15 Growing up as an Asian in a Nebraska farmtown
39:58 The importance of mirroring for adoptees
44:58 Hope for anyone who grew up in a dysfunctional family
