I Wasn’t Always Leeanne: An Adoption Story

An adoptee’s decades-long journey to uncover her secret family history—and her own story

When she was nine, Leeanne Swain found out she was adopted at birth. The news was earth-shattering. She was left feeling alone and isolated from her adopted family, with no family history to claim as her own.
Leeanne’s one wish was to discover her own story and meet her birth mother. It wasn’t easy. She fought legal battles to gain access to her birth and adoption records while raising children of her own. After decades of paperwork and research, Leeanne slowly pieced together her family history and learned the story of her birth. A chance connection on Ancestry led her to her birth sister, but will she ever reconnect with her birth mother and find the sense of belonging she's been searching for?
I Wasn’t Always Leeanne is a heartfelt adoption memoir that explores the emotional trauma and legal struggles adoptees face when seeking the truth about their past. Join Leeanne Swain on her decades-long journey from isolation to belonging as she uncovers her secret family history and discovers her own story of determination, family, and acceptance.