Julie writes about finding out who you are, where you come from, and making sense of it.
Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin.
Her first memoir, Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging, released in May 2021, won multiple awards.
Her work has appeared in the Story Circle Network Journal, Brevity Nonfiction Blog, Imprint News, Adoption.com, Lifetime Adoption Adoptive Families Blog, Adoption & Beyond, and Severance Magazine.
Her personal essays have appeared in several anthologies, including Real Women Write: Seeing Through Her Eyes (Story Circle Network) and Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis (She Writes Press).
Her collection of essays, Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship (Muse Literary) releases in November 2023.
She writes a weekly blog and monthly column (The Beacher Newspapers), in which she explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong and making sense of it.
Julie splits her time between northwest Indiana and Sarasota, Florida.
Julie Ryan McGue is an American writer, a domestic adoptee, and an identical twin. She explores the topics of finding out who you are, where you belong and making sense of it. She is the author of two books: Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging, and Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship. Her third book, a prequel to Twice a Daughter, will be released in February 2025.
My twin sister and I were adopted together at three weeks old. I have always known I am adopted. For most of my life, my closed adoption prevented me from knowing my birth circumstances, family medical history, and genealogy. Then at 48, I was sent for a breast biopsy.
It was this health scare that compelled me to launch the search for my “personal story.”
For five years, I battled rigid state adoption statutes, search roadblocks, misinformation, lies and profound rejection before claiming the information most people take for granted. To access my “personal story,” I needed the help of a search angel, my adoption agency, a social worker, a confidential intermediary, a PI, and a genealogist. I chronicle this adoption search journey in my debut memoir Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging, which comes out in May 2021 by She Writes Press (2019 Indie Publisher of the Year).
I have always loved to write. Before I crafted my quest memoir for publication, I was engrossed in writing a novel–I still plan on finishing it! I’m also a committed journaler. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been filling notebooks with reflections, reminiscences, quotes, and stories. I just love notebooks–it doesn’t matter if they’re the spiral bound variety or the Mead black-and-white composition books. Even though I spend most of my time writing on a laptop, there is a bound notepad within my reach. There’s something about squeezing thoughts into tidy black lines that sparks unexpected creativity.
My weekly That Girl, This Life blog which focuses on identity, family and life’s quirky moments is published on my website. In addition to memoir and personal essays, I write a monthly column for my local paper The Beacher. Some of my guest blogs have appeared on Brevity’s Nonfiction Blog, Dear Adoption, and Lifetime Adoption-The Adoptive Families Blog. In the spring of 2018, I was selected to read the opening chapter of my memoir at AmpLitFest in New York City.
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Topics I Speak About
Adoption, Adversity, Abandonment
As well as:
- Finding Resilience, Acceptance, Forgiveness, and Healing
- Importance of identity, family, kinship and seeking belonging
- Journaling to add meaning and depth to life’s tender moments.
- The importance of seeking support or counseling
- What it is like to be a twin and an adoptee
- Crafting essays, blogs, and memoir from life’s precious moments
- Why adoption search and reunion are not for everyone
- The Baby Scoop Era and closed versus open adoption
Podcast Highlights
Follow Me
On April 22, Hilary Russo, the host of HIListically Speaking Podcast will have Julie on her show to converse about how we heal and make ourselves whole.
On April 28, Julie shares her adoption search and reunion story with host, Cassie Burton, from the Curiosity Junkie Podcast.
On May 4, Julie will talk about trauma, grief, and healing with Dr.Torie Williams on the Be VicTorieus podcast.
On May 15, the Book Club at Pottawattomie Country Club in Michigan City, Indiana will host Julie’s discussion of her memoir, Twice a Daughter. Jennifer, Julie’s twin sister and major character in her memoir, will share the stage for an unforgettable discussion.
On May 18, Adoption:The Making of Me Podcast will have Julie on their show to talk about how adoption affected her life journey and the impact of writing about it.
On May 20, Julie will speak to the Women’s Philanthropic Education Organization (PEO), Hinsdale chapter, at Hinsdale Methodist Church about her journey as an adoptee and writer.
On June 4, Julie will guest on the Trauma Survivorhood Podcast with Sarah Miley.
To listen to other podcasts where Julie shares about her books, adoption story, and perspectives on all things related to identity, family, and belonging, go here (the media tab on her website).
