E. Kay Trimberger Ph.D.

About

E. Kay Trimberger, Ph.D., is an adopted mother of a black/biracial son. Her book, Creole Son: An Adoptive Mother Untangles Nature and Nurture, has just been published in April 2020 The book includes an introduction by award winning writer, Andrew Solomon and an afterword by her adult son. Creole Son is a memoir combined with an analysis of behavioral genetics research and written for a general audience. The book contains an appendix on "Implications for Adoption Theory, Practice and Research." She integrate behavioral genetics with the stories of all in the adoption triad to better understand her son's and her own experience. As far as she knows, no other book on adoption combines memoir and genetic analysis in the way that she does . She is also the author of The New Single Woman. Trimberger is a professor emerita at Sonoma State University and an affiliated scholar at the Institute for the Study of Social Issues at U.C. Berkeley.

Recent Posts

'The Son With Two Moms': A Story of Same-Sex Adoption

What happened in the 1990s when a Black birth grandmother fought in court with a white lesbian couple for custody of a Black boy in foster care.

Should Adoptive Parents Write About Their Adoptees?

My son was pleased that I wrote a book with him at the center. But not all adult adoptees, nor adult offspring, would feel the same way.

What Behavioral Genetics Teaches Us About Adoption

Adoptive (and biological) parents often wonder why their children grow up to be so different than themselves and each other. Behavioral genetics offers some clues.

Untangling Nature and Nurture: The Addiction

In the second part of Untangling Nature and Nurture, Marc Trimberger talks about his addiction.

Untangling Nature and Nurture

The Creole son on growing up mixed-race.

Adoptee Memoir Offers Hope and a Chance at Deepening Ties

Sara Easterly discusses her memoir, which traces her complex relationship with her adoptive mother.

Reunions of Adults Born from a Sperm Donor

A recent memoir and an academic study tell us about reunions with sperm donors and donor siblings. I explore how these experiences are similar and different from adoption reunions

"Instant Family": A Film about Fostering and Adoption

Although it presents some truths about the difficulties parents face when fostering and adopting older children, the film also perpetuates myths.

Adult Adoptee Voices Are Changing Adoption Narrative

A documentary filmmaker profiles 100 Korean adult adoptees from around the world. See what they say about their diverse experiences of adoption.

The Film "Three Identical Strangers"

The documentary "Three Identical Strangers" exposes an unethical adoption study, but it does not tell us about other such studies that are ethical.