Jigsaw Post-Adoption Centre Queensland

26/08/2026

This is the first of five posts showing results from our recent client survey.

95% of survey respondents said that our staff are understanding and supportive.

So, if you want to talk to someone about the impact of adoption on your life, rest assured that the person who answers the phone will understand what you say and how you feel, and they will support you in whatever way works best for you.

You can call us on 1800 21 03 13 or email [email protected]

Here is the data on survey participants:

- 68% were adopted people
- 14% were mothers
- 10% were siblings of an adoptee
- 8% were a relative or friend.

Here is the data on services accessed from highest to lowest percentage of all services:

- emotional support
- information and advice
- support group
- assistance with search and contact family
- workshop or event.

25/08/2026

For much of her life, Helen Harrison looked outside herself for the sense of belonging, acceptance and security she was searching for.

In this clip from Jigsaw Queensland’s Adopt Perspective podcast, Helen talks about one of the most important things she has come to understand: the need to keep coming back to herself.

For adopted people, that can be a particularly powerful idea. When some of our earliest experiences have left questions about where we belong, who we need to be to be accepted, or whether relationships are secure, it can be easy to lose ourselves in trying to find those answers in other people.

Helen describes learning, over time, that the relationship she needed to stop abandoning was the one she had with herself.

In this episode of Jigsaw Queensland's Adopt Perspective podcast, Helen speaks openly with Jo about the many ways adoption has reverberated through her life: motherhood, relationships, hypervigilance, people-pleasing, addiction, grief and the devastating deaths of two of her siblings. But this is also a conversation about what Helen discovered after years of looking outside herself for the answers.

Helen's story is a powerful exploration of identity, belonging and learning not to abandon ourselves in the search to be accepted by others.

Helen wrote a book about her experience titled “Inner Wealth: From Pain to Purpose”. You can purchase it here:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Inner-Wealth-Purpose-Helen-Harrison-ebook/dp/B0DLLKKJHR/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?content_source=fb&fb_content_id=Q9-wBQG72_byE13JQlqb8i4ighfdbCwfies3RJ45MKv9mMVBljRnpVy2t9xb0uh_7A&channel_type=fb&fbclid=IwcGRvZgFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEydm5IVEVPQnF0ejhTZFpSc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHueNqkrde8VKAILvXqov7-kCoPEoaXLxTDUMjCz0TJrKSCypydsyaHNHflHP_aem_x2hjY2npNAF21aMOCQlQtA

Did you know that you can now watch Adopt Perspective on Spotify and YouTube? You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Castbox, Amazon, Overcast and via the Jigsaw Queensland website here: https://www.jigsawqueensland.com/podcast

24/08/2026

Thank you Molly Frankham for advocating so eloquently for your mother, and all adopted people in Tasmania, impacted by the forced adoption era. We hope the Tasmanian Government comes to understand the importance of redress for adult adoptees, in recognition of the lifelong impact of past decisions made by government and institutions that denied them their rights to know their truth, their family and identity.



https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/hobart-drive/tasmania-forced-adoption-redress-forgetting-the-babies/107059866?fbclid=IwY2xjawT5s-hwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMTluVG5CcjdrYmRVdVNuOVhzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEehXwNthS0WlG4zi6y_cfrRWdSTZs40GvhrX99n12a7fdxi5_qJnRepSmJ-wE_aem_Ee-VLNisWNVBim3Vz8dssA

There's a growing push for the Tasmanian government's redress scheme for women who were forced or coerced into giving up their babies for adoption to be extended to include the babies who were given up.

23/08/2026

As a lived experience organisation, people who benefit from our services sometimes end up delivering our services. Twenty years ago Sharlene Vonhoff attended our Toowoomba support group. Now she facilitates our Toowoomba support group. We often find that, on the healing journey, people want to give back so that others can experience the same sense of relief, connection and belonging. 😍

20/08/2026

Our team meet you wherever you're at on your adoption journey. 🛣

That might be applying for your adoption information from Adoption and Permanent Care Services in Queensland's Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety.

Or it might be reaching out to a family member for the first time.

Or it might be reflecting on reunion, how it went, how you feel and where to from here.

We've been having these conversations for fifty years so we know how to support you.

1800 21 03 13

[email protected]

19/08/2026

Next week we're hosting another Cyber Social Session where people impacted by adoption come together on Zoom to meet, chat and have a laugh.

It's a social gathering not a support group but, of course, adoption comes up in conversation.

No need to dress up. No need to drive anywhere. Just connect from the comfort of home.

If you'd like to give this a try, just send an email to [email protected] so we can sign you up and send you the Zoom link.

18/08/2026

“I really struggled to bond with him.”

For Helen Harrison, becoming a mother brought an unexpected new layer to her experience of being adopted.

In this episode of Jigsaw Queensland's Adopt Perspective podcast, Helen reflects on the difficulty she experienced bonding with her first child and the questions that raised for her about attachment, motherhood and her own early separation through adoption.

Helen’s story is a reminder that the impacts of adoption don’t necessarily remain contained in childhood. They can emerge at different stages of life, sometimes in ways we don’t anticipate.

In this episode of Jigsaw Queensland's Adopt Perspective podcast, Helen speaks openly with Jo about the many ways adoption has reverberated through her life: motherhood, relationships, hypervigilance, people-pleasing, addiction, grief and the devastating deaths of two of her siblings. But this is also a conversation about what Helen discovered after years of looking outside herself for the answers.

Helen's story is a powerful exploration of identity, belonging and learning not to abandon ourselves in the search to be accepted by others.

Helen wrote a book about her experience titled Inner Wealth: From Pain to Purpose. You can purchase it here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Inner-Wealth-Purpose-Helen-Harrison-ebook/dp/B0DLLKKJHR/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0

Did you know that you can now watch Adopt Perspective on Spotify and YouTube? You can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Castbox, Amazon, Overcast and via the Jigsaw Queensland website.

17/08/2026

If you're impacted by adoption and have always felt a bit different, we understand!

If you've not yet found a place you can talk about how you feel, then please give us a call or send us an email.

The first time people contact us can be life changing.

A sense of relief, or connection, or belonging, or maybe surprise that the person on the other end of the phone gets it.

Our phone number if you're calling from within Queensland is 1800 21 03 13.
From outside Queensland it's 07 3358 6666.

Our email is [email protected]

If you're not ready to connect, that's absolutely okay.

Another way to feel that relief, connection or belonging is by viewing our Adopt Perspective podcast on Spotify and YouTube, or listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Deezer, Castbox, Amazon, Overcast and here: https://www.jigsawqueensland.com/podcast

16/08/2026

Thank you Andrea Lynch for your dedicated service as one of our first FASS Team Leaders. 😍

We cherish your ongoing contribution to Jigsaw Queensland and agree that creative expression can be a powerful way to heal from the lifelong impact of adoption. 🫶

13/08/2026

Our next SS JIGSAW Cyber Social Session is happening on Wednesday 26 August 2026.

We'd love you to join us on Zoom from 6pm to 8pm that evening.

It will be a social gathering online - not a support group.

We'll introduce ourselves, explore a few questions to get to know each other, and meet other people impacted by adoption. 🤝

No need to dress up. No need to drive anywhere. Just connect from the comfort of home.

If you'd like to give this a try, just send an email to [email protected] so we can sign you up and send you the Zoom link.