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About

Melissa Guida-Richards:

Author, Podcaster, and Transracial Adoptee

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MELISSA GUIDA-RICHARDS is an author, adoptee, and advocate based in Pennsylvania. She was adopted in 1993 from Colombia to a family in the USA. Her viral essay, “My Adoptive Parents Hid My Racial Identity From Me for 19 Years,” was published in Huffington Post in April 2019. She soon launched the Adoptee Thoughts Instagram and Podcast to help elevate adoptee voices and educate adoptive parents on the nuances and complexity of adoption. 

Check out Adoptee Thoughts, on your favorite podcast platform.

Guida-Richards graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2015 and published her first book Bedtime, The Ultimate Battle in January 2020. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Independent, Insider, Huffington Post, Zora by Medium, ElectricLit, and more. She has been interviewed by Tamron Hall, Brut, Good Day LA, NBCLX, NPR’s Code Switch, BBC Radio 4, Do the Work, and more. She has appeared on panels such as We the Experts: Adoptee Speaker Series. Guida-Richards is also a contributing writer for The Everymom.

She is currently working on a memoir and is represented by literary agent, Kat Kerr from Donald Maass Literary Agency.

@guidarichards

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♬ original sound – Melissa Guida-Richards

The Adoptee Thoughts Podcast

An Interview with 3 Reunited Biological Siblings Once Separated by Adoption – Adoptee Thoughts

On Season 3, Episode 5 of the Adoptee Thoughts Podcast, Scott McCreary, Leigh Ann Baglin, Katie Ares, and host, Melissa Guida-Richards discuss the siblings reunion journey, including the ups and downs.    About the Adoptees:   Scott McCreary is a 39-year old adoptee from South Korea. He grew up in Oklahoma and presently lives in Missouri with his wife. Currently working at a local hospital and extremely happy to experience life with my siblings and catch up on all the time passed by.   Leigh Ann Baglin is a 37 year-old South Korean adoptee residing in New Jersey with her husband and two biological children. She currently holds her LSW and works as a school therapist at the middle and high school levels. She has worked in various mental health settings such as adoption agencies, school-based youth programs, child welfare agencies, and group homes. Leigh is in active reunion with her birth father and is looking forward to growing with and sharing experiences with Katie and Scott.    Katie Ares is a 40-year-old Korean adoptee. Born in Kyungsan, South Korea, Katie was adopted at the age of three months. Raised as an only child, she lived in Pennsylvania before her family moved to Central Florida (which she considers her hometown). Most of Katie's career has been spent in roles within the nonprofit sector. Katie now calls Arizona home, where she spends her free time exploring the outdoors with her husband and two dogs. Katie is grateful to have connected with Leigh and Scott, and is enjoying the important role of being an unni and noona.   How to connect: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scott_a_mccreary/ https://www.instagram.com/leighanners/   _________   To read more of the work by your host Melissa Guida-Richards and resources available for purchase from panels to workshops, to book club information go to adopteethoughts.com or her Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/adoptee_thoughts/     Her book are available anywhere books are sold. 📖What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption: An Adoptee's Perspective on Its History, Nuances, and Practices   Preorder the companion Workbook here:   
  1. An Interview with 3 Reunited Biological Siblings Once Separated by Adoption
  2. An Interview with Transracial Adoptee, Molly McLaurin, founder of Monarch Connections
  3. An Interview with Lynn Woo Mykytyn, Adoptee & Therapist
  4. An Interview with Paige Knipfer, Adoptive Parent & Adoption Consultant
  5. An Interview with Alessia, Adopted from the USA to Italy

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