In this episode of Color Shift, we’re joined by Steven, a Vietnamese adoptee who grew up in Wyoming and has returned to Vietnam several times as an adult. Steven reflects on transracial adoption, identity, and what it means to reconnect with a place that holds both history and possibility.

We also talk about Adoptive Threads, a project Steven created to support adoptee-led organizations and provide supplies to orphanages, including the one where his life began.

This conversation explores belonging, memory, and how adoptees navigate the spaces between past and present—holding complexity, curiosity, and care along the way.

Steven's t-shirt company: www.adoptivethreads.com

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

Most of the time, I would have a nice info here for the show notes about the guest. Well, this time, I am keeping short and sweet. The guest this week is none other than myself, Nate Choi. I am also happy to introduce my long time friend Jeremy. Jeremy did an amazing job interviewing and being such a respectful host for this episode.

This episode was scary, hard, wonderful and amazing. I teared up a little bit and we definitely laughed a lot as well.

Thank you to Jeremy for being a great host.

I hope you enjoy.

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

In this episode, Alejandra shares her journey as a Guatemalan adoptee raised in the predominately white suburbs of Baltimore. Adopted at 15 months old, Alejandra always knew she was adopted — but knowing didn’t mean understanding. From growing up without Spanish to navigating a childhood where no one looked like her, she reflects on the quiet but constant reminders of difference that shaped her identity.

Alejandra talks about the pivotal year her mother took a sabbatical to live with her in Mexico so she could learn Spanish, and later, her decision to spend a year in Guatemala reconnecting with the country she came from. She also shares the emotional experience of searching for and meeting her biological family in 2019, and how becoming a mother herself has deepened her appreciation, compassion, and grief for the woman who gave birth to her.

This episode explores identity, language loss, reunion, and the weight of what it means to know — and not know — where you come from. Alejandra’s story offers tenderness, honesty, and a window into the layered reality of transnational adoption.

https://www.safepassage.org

https://www.thetiesprogram.com/guatemala-ties-heritage-tours

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

Episode Description – Jacob: When Adoption Breaks Down

In this episode of Color Shift, host Nathan Choi talks with Jacob, who shares a powerful and often overlooked side of adoption — what happens when an adoptive placement doesn’t last.

Adopted from Ethiopia at age two and raised in Brisbane, Jacob spent his early childhood in an Australian family until, at age eleven, he was handed over to the Department of Human Services. From there, he entered the foster care system, moving through multiple placements, navigating instability, and enduring experiences no child should have to face. By eighteen, he aged out of care and stepped into adulthood completely on his own.

Despite losing connection with his adoptive parents, Jacob maintains a strong, meaningful relationship with his adopted sister—a bond that helped him stay grounded through years of upheaval.

In our conversation, Jacob opens up about the realities of bouncing from home to home, the emotional weight of feeling unwanted, and the resilience required to build a life without familial stability. His story shines a light on the gaps in both adoption and foster care systems, and on the strength it takes to survive when every anchor is pulled away.

This episode is a raw and necessary look into the experiences rarely talked about in adoption: breakdown, displacement, and the long road toward creating your own sense of safety and belonging.

ICAV -Intercountry Adoptee Voices

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

Episode Description:
In this episode of Color Shift, Nathan sits down with Claire, a Korean adoptee, empowerment coach, and somatic practitioner. Claire shares her journey of reconnection—how exploring the body’s wisdom helped her navigate questions of identity, belonging, and healing as a transracial adoptee.

Together, they talk about what it means to move beyond survival, reclaim voice, and find grounding in one’s own truth. This conversation invites listeners to slow down, reflect, and consider how healing can begin with simply learning to listen—to ourselves and to each other.

claire@coachwithclaire.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/17YkL44RD7/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/claire_magenheimer?igsh=bjNuczA0d2ZmbWpy&utm_source=qr

https://www.theempoweredadopteecoaching.com/group-coaching

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-empowered-adoptee-podcast/id1731324487

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

In this episode of Color Shift: Transracial Adoptees, Nathan sits down with Kae (she/they), an adoptee with Indonesian roots who was adopted at birth in the U.S.

Kae opens up about what it means to unpack adoption later in life — even when you have a “good” relationship with your adoptive parents. From the emotional process of changing her name to the silence that came after reaching out to biological relatives, Kae reflects on how identity, belonging, and family can evolve over time.

She also shares what it’s been like to find a sense of kinship for the first time — through community with other Indonesian adoptees.

This conversation is tender, honest, and a reminder that the adoptee story doesn’t end with adoption — it keeps unfolding.

An organization I would promote would be Rihlat Ar Rahma, an organization that provides aid to Palestinian orphan families.

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

In this episode of Color Shift, host Nathan Choi sits down with Fai, a Vietnamese and White adoptee who grew up in small-town Pennsylvania as the only Asian kid around. Adopted at just one month old, Fai’s race and adoption were rarely acknowledged at home — leaving them to navigate questions of identity and belonging mostly on their own.

It wasn’t until college that Fai began to “come out of the fog,” confronting the realities of transracial adoption and beginning the process of reconnecting with their roots. Along the way, they’ve built a relationship with their birth father, faced rejection from their birth mother, and learned to hold both the pain and clarity that come with truth.

Now based in Pittsburgh, Fai co-leads a local chapter of Adoptees Connect, creating the kind of community they once needed — a space for adoptees to share stories, find belonging, and heal together.

This conversation explores what it means to grow up unseen, the complicated layers of reunion, and how connection and community can help us rebuild what was once lost.

🎧 Listen as Fai shares their story of identity, rejection, resilience, and the ongoing journey of self-discovery.

Adoptee therapist directory:
https://growbeyondwords.com/adoptee-therapist-directory/

Adoption competency-trained therapists:
https://adoptionsupport.org/national-directory/
Adoptees Connect Pittsburgh:
https://www.instagram.com/adopteesconnectpgh

Instagram @goodfaiththerapy

My website: goodfaiththerapy.com

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com

In this episode of Color Shift, we sit down with Ezra, a Korean adoptee who was adopted at six months old and grew up in Indianapolis inside a strict, isolating bubble. With no access to peers, friends, or other adoptees, Ezra was raised under the belief that “if you don’t make it a big deal, it won’t be a big deal.” That silence around his adoption created distance with his adoptive parents and left Ezra struggling to make sense of his identity.

Ezra opens up about the dark periods of his life, including times when he considered suicide, and how the deep wounds of abandonment extend far beyond the physical. He also shares how therapy, reflection, and the support of other adoptees have helped him begin to heal and rebuild a sense of connection.

This episode is a raw and vulnerable conversation about isolation, survival, and the lifelong process of reclaiming identity.

Ezra's Instagram: @betterthanezrah

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Merch: Color Shift 1.0 by Nathan Choi – Adoptive Threads

If you are interested in supporting this podcast please go to the listener support page: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2502012/support

If you are a transracial adoptee and want to share your story email me at: transracialadoptionstories@gmail.com