In this episode, Anna Maria DiDio shares what many adoption stories leave out—the emotional layers of loss, identity, and adjustment that unfold long after the papers are signed. We talk about bringing 7-year-old Priscilla home from a Mexican orphanage to suburban Philadelphia, and how love alone can’t erase the trauma of being uprooted. Anna Maria opens up about early struggles—language barriers, sibling dynamics, and the myth that adopted children should feel “grateful.”
Whether adoption is part of your life or you simply want to understand it better, this conversation offers powerful insight and hope.
Key Topics Discussed:
- The hidden emotional challenges of international adoption, including cultural shock, language loss, and grief.
- The myth of adoption” — why acknowledging an adopted child’s sense of loss is essential for healing and connection.
- How adoption impacts the entire family, from the adjustment struggles of adopted children to shifting dynamics with biological siblings.
- How Anna Maria DiDio’s L.I.F.E. Adventures children’s book series helps families open up conversations about identity, belonging, and heritage.
Key Takeaways:
- Loving an adopted child well means creating space for their grief, not expecting gratitude.
- Healing in adoption happens when families are willing to sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of trying to “fix” them quickly.
- Siblings in adoptive families need just as much support and patience as the adopted child, as family dynamics shift for everyone.
- Storytelling — like Anna Maria DiDio’s L.I.F.E. Adventures series — can bridge the gap between silence and understanding, helping children process complex feelings.
Noteworthy Quotes:
“Families come in all shapes and sizes — it’s important to recognize that and still be able to communicate and stay connected.”
“Although parents have the best of intentions, with love… love alone doesn’t make the fear or loss go away.”
Anna Maria’s Bio: Anna Maria DiDio is an author, speaker, and educator dedicated to helping families navigate adoption, identity, attachment, and grief. Inspired by her family’s adoption journey to Mexico, she wrote Love at the Border: An Adoption Adventure and created the L.I.F.E. Adventures children’s series to foster open conversations in adoptive, foster, and blended families. With an MSW from the University of Pennsylvania, Anna Maria also volunteers with nonprofits worldwide and has a background in human resources.
More About Anna Maria:
Website: AMDiDio.com
Books (Grace’s Write Time, Love at the Border, Carla the Conqueror, How I Wonder Where You Are, Many People to Love
LinkedIn
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