Alt.adoption is the Usenet newsgroup
where Bastard Nation was born. It's a completely open, unmoderated forum where triad
members (adoptees, birthparents, adoptive parents) and parasites of all persuasions come
together and hack away at the big (and not so big) issues. You can post your search
information there and get help with your search and reunion issues. You can give advice.
You can rant and rave. It's totally free. The following info. is from 1996. Many of the links below are long dead but some still work or have been updated. A more updated
alt.adoption page can be found at The Semi-Official Alt.adoption website
Alt.adoption FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Cast of characters
Besides the BN crowd, there are some other regulars on a.a. you might want to know
about if you decide to visit.
-
Adoptees:
- Rosemarie Ventura (High Holy Holder of the FAQs, Chief of Undercover
Operations)
- Dana Kreisserer (AIML List Mistress and Outing Committee): wrote her MA on
adoption
- Elaine Petersen
(Lainie): A reunited adoptee who is also a birthmother in an open adoption. Vocal
opponent of the “Primal Wound” theory
- Kim at Pitt: Originally a Founding Foundling of BN, Kim resigned from BN after she
was told that she couldn't unilaterally kick people out. She is a very talented satirist .
Extremely angry at her birthmother with whom she had an unsuccessful reunion and she
generalizes her feelings about this to most birthmothers. Blames her psychological
problems on being adopted.
- Janet Cornell
- Don Williams (Society for the Prevention of Unilateral Contact): Self-described as
Happily Adopted, really hated the idea of unilateral contact and believed that it violates
the privacy of the sacred adoption contract. Had an unrequested search done for him by
another a.a member. Knows who his birthmother is and where she lives, and yes, he made
unilateral contact! Go to the BN Reunion page for
updates on Don's unfolding saga. .
- Andy Katz - adoptee and clever satirist, locked into a never-ending
ideological struggle with Barbara Franks-Morra.
- Denise Castellucci: Reunited
adoptee and artist who put up a pioneering website for successful reunion stories
- Jean VanHorne: adoptee and vocal “Primal Wound” theory apologist
- Mack Bray: “Grateful” adoptee who asked the fateful question “What is Bastard
Nation” and then freaked out when he didn’t like the answer.
-
Adoptive (and prospective adoptive) parents:
- Dr. Steve White (Surgeon Generalissimo, Outing Committee) tries to understand
the adoptee perspective, and has very little patience for what he perceives to be
psychobabble and shenanigans.
- Kevin McCarty (Official Registrar and Archivist of Records): Keeps the adoptive
parents FAQ and various other adoption-related works on his website.
- Kate Workman (Official Scapegoat): an adoptive mother and a birth mother who was
the victim of a massive spam bombing earlier in 1996.
- Jacquie Gower
- Celeste Piliponis (Official Screaming Fruitcake and
Disney Liaison): radical anti-
open
records and anti-open adoption advocate, pawn of the NCFA, foster parent and adoptive
parent with a fixation on Disney movies (she sometimes posts as Zazu, as in The Lion
King) and some *ahem* unusual parenting ideas. Prima facie evidence of the
questionable
worth of homestudies.
- L. Anne Babb: Adoptive mother who is very sympathetic to
adoptee issues. Vocal proponent of the “Primal Wound” theory. President of the
American Adoption Congress and mother of 10 (count 'em - ten!) adoptive children.
- Linda “Rat Patootie” Fortney: - got her nickname from
asserting that she didn't give a Rat's Patootie about Shea's birth
certificate. Always pipes up
to defend real or imagined slights on adoptive parents and prospective
adoptive parents, and has been claiming for about two years that she's
leaving “soon” to procure a baby girl from China. She also likes to
send nasty emails to people she disagrees with.
- The Ducks - A couple of prospective adoptive parents
who advertise all over the net looking for a healthy white infant to
be adopted in a private and closed adoption. The Ducks believe that
they can get what they want, because they have money and connections.
They also are looking for a child because Mr. Duck said Mrs. Duck
can't have a fourth dog.
-
Birthparents:
- Jackie Patrick (Founder of Birthwhore Nation and Ambassador to Slutvakia) -
unrepentant Christopher Walken fetishist, Jackie has been the only birthwhore to truly
bond with Krazy Kim Keister of Pitt during the Most Holy and Revered Walken Thread.
She is also the adoptive mother of Kim@Pitt, Arnie, Damsel Plum, Beth and other lucky
Bastards (although most of them are older than she)
- Laura
Lewis: the Voice of CUB on your internet, Laura's style is the long,
emotional tirade. She also posts a lot on some of the abortion
discussion groups. Very angry birthmom who thinks that all adoption is evil.
- Elisa Menocal Barton: - wrote a book
called Confessions of a Lost
Mother outlining her experiences as a birthmother on the internet. You can email
her for more info.
- Amy Bredes: freaked out after the reunion with her birthson and got much flamed
for posting that she told him she “needed some room”. Subsequently came out with her
“Preparation for Contact” article to warn adoptees about
freaked-out biomoms.
- Bud (Dept. of Determined Daughter-searching): - every few days he posts his
account of learning that he is the father of a 26 year old daughter whose adoption was
handled by the infamous Leslie Thacker, an unscrupulous and now disbarred adoption
attorney. Recently found his daughter and is now in the process of reunion.
- Kate Workman
- Elaine Petersen
(Lainie): reunited adoptee also a birthmom in an open adoption
- Patty Bybee: a birthmother who has the dubious distinction of
knowing about the antics of Celeste for the longest out of all the alt.adoption
regulars. She knew Celeste the first time Celeste was booted from
Prodigy.
- Barbara Franks-
Morra - a reunited birthmother, an artist, and the nemesis of Andy Katz.