S1 Ep. 5: Andrea

In this episode, Sarah and Louise discuss Chapter Five of “The Primal Wound” by Nancy Newton Verrier, and then they talk to Andrea Ross, author of "Natural Selection: A Memoir of Adoption and Wilderness."

Adopted at birth, Andrea grew up inhabiting two ecosystems: one was her tangible, adoptive family; the other her birth family, whose mysterious landscape was hidden from her.  In her early twenties, while working as a ranger in Grand Canyon National Park, she embarked on a journey to discover where she came from and, ultimately, who she was. After many missteps and dead ends, she uncovered her heartbreaking and inspiring origin story. She began navigating the complicated turns of reuniting with her birth parents and their new families. By way of backcountry travel in the American West, she also came to define her true identity and place in the world not by adopted nor biological parents, but through an expanded concept of family.

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