Nobody's Child, Everybody's Children:

Suzanne Ariel

Suzanne Ariel is a 57 year old birthmother, grandmother and product of donor insemination.  She learned she was a product of DI shortly after completing the search for the daughter she had surrendered to a Jewish Adoption Agency in Los Angeles15 years earlier. She was 32 years old at the time.  With the successful completion of both of those searches--one loss through adoption, another through donor insemination--Suzanne has come to terms with those losses and been able to integrate all the parts into a whole.

Suzanne was very active in the adoption community in Los Angeles for nearly 20 years, founding the Los Angeles branch of the nationally-based Concerned United Birthparents. She is a seasoned speaker with both the media and at conferences, and one of the earliest voices to call for change in all systems that encourage building families upon secrets and lies. She speaks passionately for every child to know his or her heritage - that the information is precious and life-affirming,  that it irrevocably belongs to the child, and that children have an absolute right to have that heritage safeguarded by their parents and by the law.

Although she has a degree in accounting, Suzanne has worked in litigation for over 25 years.  Two years ago she relocated to Oregon from Los Angeles to be closer to her only daughter and grandchildren.