The Forgotten Adoption Option Podcast
🎙 The Forgotten Adoption Option Podcast—Now in its fifth season—brings you real stories and expert insights on adopting through foster care.
Each month, host Marcy Bursac, America’s Foster Care Adoption Mentor, interviews:
✅ Adoptive parents sharing their journeys
✅ Adults who aged out of foster care
✅ Child welfare experts
💡 30% of kids in U.S. foster care are legally free for adoption.
🔗 Learn more at ForgottenAdoptionOption.com & subscribe today!
- Update frequency
- every 23 days
- Average duration
- 34 minutes
- Episodes
- 76
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
HOW to write a graphic novel about foster care adoption
Meet my graphic novel writing coach Maria Rodgers O’Rourke! Maria is a writer and certified Story Grid Editor. Her career began in advertising and public relations, moved to nonprofit leadership, and…
championing foster care adoption in corporate America
Josh, a finance professional from Erie, Pennsylvania, shares how a timely billboard sparked a life-changing decision for him and his wife, Elena—to say yes to helping children in foster care. In this…
how Pennsylvania churches are uniting to support foster & adoptive families
Vince Smith leads Keystone Family Alliance as its Executive Director, drawing on his extensive expertise in organizational leadership and community engagement to drive transformative programs. Over t…
HOW to create a foster care and adoption employee resource group (ERG)
Andrew Lewis is a partner at KPMG and the founder of the KPMG National Foster Care and Adoption Network. He is both a foster parent and adoptive parent who serves on the boards of Comfort Cases and t…
using technology to leverage cross-sector communication
Karen Phillips didn’t plan to become a child welfare changemaker—she simply said yes to becoming a foster parent. That yes set her on a path to help families in crisis long before the foster care sys…
the role an adoption attorney plays in the child welfare system
Eva Amador is a retired adoption attorney from Puerto Rico. She spent her the final years of her career navigating the legal process to help children find forever families.
how a social worker adopted a teen in her caseload
Connie Going has spent over 25 years working in the child welfare system and is the adoptive parent of two teens including Davion and another young man - the boys became good friends and referred to …
how a youth pastor adopted a teenager in her youth group
Beverly Jenkins and I met as Invested Faith Fellows. She is the founder of the North County Innovation Center. During a meet up at her space, she shared she was an adoptive mom, too. She went on to s…
how to bring the Foster Care Adoption Awareness Reading Program to your school
Foster Care Adoption Awareness in the Classroom: Lessons from Two Educators
In this episode, I sit down with Jamie and Linda, two passionate elementary school teachers who have been instrumental in sh…
the need for adoptive families for children in the foster care system
Amanda Denning is the Director of Extreme Recruitment for the Foster & Adoptive Care Coalition. Amanda is herself half adopted and, as of a few months ago, has become the kinship placement for her ni…
how to know you're ready to adopt a teen
In addition to being the mother of 3 daughters, 1 through adoption, Katerina Canyon is an award-winning poet and author.
During our conversation, we revisit stories from past guests, including …
how an aunt cares for a sibling group in her family tree through the foster care system
Rene by day works in tech. As a single woman, she cares for her sister's children. In the foster care space we call this a 'kinship placement'. Kin refers to being a family member or someone related …
grant funding opportunities for families adopting through the foster care system
Brian Murphy is both the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer and Shaneetra Gross serves as Chief Administrative Officer for Gift of Adoption Fund. Gift of Adoption provides adoption a…
realities I faced as I aged out of the foster care system
Michael, who resided in California, had a successful career as a technology manager within the banking industry. His dedication and insights continue to inspire those who knew him.
the realities of foster care and human trafficking overlapping
In this episode, you'll hear about the realities of foster care and human trafficking overlapping.
Janet Craig wrote and directed Wake Up. She has experience as a foster mom and has a degree in theat…
what it is like to be adopted as a teenager
Alana shares her perspective of the story was shared by her adoptive mom Robin in Season 1.
core issues in adoption and permanency
Allison Davis Maxon is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of child welfare and children’s mental health. She specializes in attachment, developmental trauma and permanency/adoption.
Alliso…
HOW a waiting child found his forever family
In 2013 Davion Only-Going warmed hearts around the world after standing before a Florida church congregation and asking for a family to adopt him. A few years later he was adopted. Today, he is a che…
webinar series to help you take the next step to explore foster care or adoption
Courtney is the host of FosterCon and she is the foster care recruitment manager for America's Kids Belong. She and her husband have fostered more than 60 children. She is the mother of 9 children - …
