At age 46, Janeen Jackson received unexpected news through DNA technology: she was adopted and biracial.
“When my results came back, I was shocked to discover that I was biracial and not biologically related to anyone in my family! In less than 24 hours, I learned I was in foster care and adopted. My birth father is white, and my birth mother is Black,” she says.
Jackson was completely shocked and didn’t know how to process the information. “My entire world flipped upside down. I felt lost. I felt alone. I felt betrayed. I couldn’t understand why my parents kept my adoption and mixed-race background a secret. I felt like part of my life was living a lie,” she says.
Jackson shares how after years of struggling, she finally found a path toward healing through writing–both through her blog and a new children’s book, Hello, Sweet Baby: An Adoption Journey. “Writing the book was a cathartic experience. It helped me to come to terms with why my adoptive parents chose not to tell me about my adoption and the complexities of closed adoption. Writing this book has also helped me explore my identity in a new way, and I have been able to find a sense of peace and connection with others who have shared a similar experience,” she says.
November may have passed but it is National Adoption Month, and I’d love to share this amazing children’s book with you. Then I would like to ask you to share Hello, Sweet Baby: An Adoption Journey that would make a wonderful Gift for Christmas and no, it doesn’t matter if a child is adopted or not they will enjoy the story and pictures the Author has shared with us.
Hello, Sweet Baby: An Adoption Journey
by Janeen Jackson (Author), Brittanie Gaja (Illustrator)
Paw Prints; August 22, 2023; Ages 4-7; 40 pages
Hardcover; $18.99; 978-1223186535; 11 x 8 1/2
Paperback; $8.99; 978-1223186542; 10 3/4 x 8 1.2
At age 46, Janeen Jackson received unexpected news through DNA technology: she was adopted and biracial. She found inspiration for this book in a small tomato garden at her son Phoenix’s elementary school. Writing this story was Janeen’s way of explaining her adoption, her mixed race background, the family that released her, and the family that adopted her and loved her as their own. Janeen was a longtime resident of Santa Monica, CA, and in 2022 moved to Evanston, IL, with her husband, Ron Clark, and their two sons, Tyson and Phoenix. She received her B.A. from the HBCU Norfolk State University and completed her master’s in Education Leadership and Change in 2020 from Antioch University. Hello, Sweet Baby is Janeen’s first children’s book. Janeen is represented by Jesse B. Creative and you can find her online at and read her blog
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David cates
