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Barbara Sumner

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Video: Selwyn Manning talks with Barbara Sumner about her new book and why adoption laws must change

September 23, 2020

Video we cross LIVE to author and film-maker Barbara Sumner to discuss her new book Tree of Strangers. But first, in this book, Barbara has laid bare her own life experiences to illustrate why New Zealand’s 65 year-old adoption laws must be fixed. It’s a beautifully written story of a child’s journey through the early ... <a title="Video: Selwyn Manning talks with Barbara Sumner about her new book and why adoption laws must change" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2020/09/23/live-special-at-8pm-selwyn-manning-talks-with-barbara-sumner-about-her-new-book-and-why-adoption-laws-must-change/" aria-label="Read more about Video: Selwyn Manning talks with Barbara Sumner about her new book and why adoption laws must change">Read more</a>

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Column: Barbara Sumner – The Adoption Game Show

May 23, 2019

Column: Barbara Sumner – If adoption secrecy were a game show, they’d call it, ‘how much do you really want this?’ Because I am adopted, I have no birth story. However, the state holds a large number of files on me. Legal documents, doctors notes, feeding recipes and home visit comments. Through these documents, I ... <a title="Column: Barbara Sumner – The Adoption Game Show" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/05/23/barbara-sumner-column-the-adoption-game-show/" aria-label="Read more about Column: Barbara Sumner – The Adoption Game Show">Read more</a>

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The baby or the fridge

February 14, 2019

Column: Barbara Sumner – 1960 was a big year for my adopting parents. First came the infertility diagnosis. Then a new baby arrived with little warning and no fanfare. Followed within days by a new refrigerator. I was one of over 103,000 New Zealand babies forcibly removed from my single mother. Her dying mother sent ... <a title="The baby or the fridge" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/02/14/the-baby-or-the-fridge/" aria-label="Read more about The baby or the fridge">Read more</a>

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Consider youself one of us

January 17, 2019

Column: Barbara Sumner – As a child, my family saw the musical Oliver. For days after, my adopting mother hummed and sang the theme tune: Consider yourself one of us Consider yourself at home Consider yourself one of the family ….etc etc The song is a bit of an earworm. I’d forgotten it and the ... <a title="Consider youself one of us" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2019/01/17/consider-youself-one-of-us/" aria-label="Read more about Consider youself one of us">Read more</a>

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Strange fruit

November 23, 2018

Column: Barbara Sumner – There have always been inconsistencies in my birth story. The dates, the people involved, the actual circumstances. All missing, suspect or manufactured. As an adopted person I have no legal right to know anything other than the story my adopting parents chose to tell. So I decided to challenge that. I ... <a title="Strange fruit" class="read-more" href="https://eveningreport.nz/2018/11/23/strange-fruit/" aria-label="Read more about Strange fruit">Read more</a>