Julie Melanson always knew she was adopted, but it wasn’t until she was 51 years old that she decided to search for her birth mother. She eventually found her, built a connection with both her mother and her birth siblings, and then lost her mother soon after. Julie reflects on what it was like to grow up as an adoptee, search for her mom, meet her for the first time, and get to know her during the time they had together.

• Growing up in a large extended family with 17 cousins and summers at the family lake house
• What her adoptive mother used to say about her birth mother
• Why she waited until 51 to begin searching for her birth family
• What it felt like to finally find and meet her birth mother
• Discovering similarities between herself and her biological relatives
• The complicated emotions of finding — and later losing — her birth mother

• Julie’s memoir, Not Yours To Keep, about adoption and her birth mother’s strength
• “The Prayer” by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church

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