An Accident of Birth
S12, Ep. 8: Alex
At the age of sixty, Alex Blum made a life-altering discovery: he was the eldest of four biological
brothers he never knew existed. Born in 1955, Blum had always known he was adopted, yet the
secrecy of the era kept every detail of his origins sealed. Without a court order, he spent decades
without a single clue about where he came from—or why he had been given up.
Raised by a wealthy family on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Blum grew up surrounded by privilege
but plagued by a deep sense of disconnection. He often felt out of place and emotionally unmoored,
longing for a sense of belonging that never arrived.
Having built a career helping others tell their stories—first for brands as a commercial producer and
then as a feature film producer with credits including Behind Enemy Lines and Flight of the
Phoenix for 20th Century Fox—Blum finally turns the camera on himself in An Accident of Birth.
More than a memoir of adoption and reunion, An Accident of Birth explores the universal emotional
landscape shared by adoptees everywhere. With candid, affecting prose, Blum examines the
pressures of “adoptee gratitude,” the quiet ache of alienation, and the lifelong search for identity,
connection, and home.
To find Alex's Book: An Accident of Birth by T. Alex Blum
Season 12 Book: The Adoption Paradox by Jean Kelly Widner
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RESOURCES for Adoptees:
Gregory Luce and Adoptee Rights Law
Fireside Adoptees Facebook Group
Dr. Liz Debetta: Migrating Toward Wholeness Movement
Moses Farrow - Trauma therapist and advocate
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-8255 OR Dial or Text 988.
