I am a publisher and author. My 2018 memoir, You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are: An Adoptee’s Journey through the American Adoption Experience, critically examines the history of the U.S. adoption system with my life story navigating the complex world of being an adoptee denied basic legal and human rights because of my legal birth status.
Visit my book website for more essays on adoption, legal issues surrounding the denial rights to U.S. adoptees, and resources for journalists, policymakers, and those impacted by this system.
My book is in paperback and ebook. Buy a copy to learn more about the hidden and little understood world shrouded in misinformation and misunderstanding.
Other essays and published writing:
- Connecting with my Finnish roots, one sauna at a time (photo essay, April 13, 2024)
- Finnish Nordic skiing, accessible for all (photo essay, March 25, 2024)
- Celebrating all things Finnish—kaikkea suomalaista juhlitaan (Includes links to all my essays since 2023 relating to Finland, March 23, 2024)
- Why Finland has captured global attention for its national wellbeing (March 16, 2024)
- Adoption and spy craft: Thoughts on John le Carré and my life as an adoptee (Jan. 21, 2024)
- In a sauna you won’t find a super model, but you will see a lot of sweaty flesh (Dec. 9, 2023)
- Blood is thicker than water: Meeting my kin in Finland (long-form story: 9,000+ words) (Nov. 5, 2023)
- Rediscovering Rudolf Vrba, hero and humanitarian (Dec. 26, 2022)
- Crittenton General Hospital’s forgotten legacy serving single mothers and promoting adoption in Michigan (March 16, 2019)
- Discrimination against adoptees rooted in fears of illegitimacy (Jan. 29, 2017)
- Rudy Owens’ essays on adoption and adoptees (2015 onward)
- Rudy Owens, select travel writing (2000 onward)
- Musings on slavery, abolitionist John Brown, and Hollywood’s clumsy embrace of human bondage (June 12, 2013)
(Last updated April 13, 2024)