I’m Dr. Jo-Ann Sparrow, host and producer of the Adopt Perspective podcast. My own adoption journey began long before this podcast—back in 1971 when I was born at the Royal in Brisbane and adopted three weeks later by a Darling Downs family with three existing biological children.

In1991, I first reached out to Jigsaw Queensland to search for my mother after new laws gave me access to identifying information. With Jigsaw’s support, I eventually connected with both of my parents and a sibling. That experience, and the lifelong process of making sense of adoption, has shaped who I am and fuels the conversations I bring to you here.

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Adopt Perspective is now a global platform, listened to in more than 45 countries, with over 60,000 listeners. Each episode brings together lived experience and expert voices—therapists, researchers, authors, and advocates—to explore adoption’s complexities and its lifelong impact. My aim is to create a space that is honest, compassionate, and sometimes challenging—because adoption stories deserve to be told in their full truth.

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Alongside my lived experience, I bring a Doctorate of Creative Arts (focusing on adoption and identity), a Master of Public Relations, Bachelor of Journalism and a Cert IV in Mental Health Peer Work. I’ve worked across higher education, government, and the not-for-profit sector for more than 25 years, but it’s in this role—as President of Jigsaw Queensland, a peer support worker and podcast host—that I feel most at home: holding space for connection, hope, and healing.

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If you’d like to know more of my personal story, you can listen to my episode When the Search Ends (3 August 2022). Otherwise, I invite you to dive into the episodes that speak to you. You’ll find real stories, expert insights, and conversations that I hope will leave you feeling seen, understood, and a little less alone.

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