Presentation Title: There Are More Like Me: Search, Reunion, and Synchronicity in Adoption

Bio: Doug Henderson is a retired Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology from the Ohio State University in 1973, and was a Licensed Psychologist for 25 years. Doug was adopted at birth in 1946 in a traditional closed adoption, but despite knowing his adoption had major implications in his life, he didn’t seriously consider searching until after he had testicular cancer in 1981. Doug did his primary search between 1983 and 1999, ultimately meeting several members of his birth family. His reunion process stalled for many years until his identity was confirmed through 23andMe. Doug has authored or coauthored 11 articles about adoption in professional journals and presented 17 papers at psychology or adoption-related conventions. For ten years he led a local chapter of Adoption Information and Direction, a triad-based Wisconsin search and support group. He was a member of the Board, Executive, and Nominating Committees, Continuing Education Director, and a Regional Director of the American Adoption Congress. Doug lives in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with his wife, Susan Hughes Gingrasso, a retired UW Stevens Point Professor of Dance.