Inside Carolee Inskeep's Life: the Author and Genealogist Married to Npr's Steve Inskeep
By James H. Sterling
Adoption is not an abstract social policy for the Inskeep household; it is an intimate reality spanning two generations. Steve Inskeep was adopted as an infant in 1968 by Roland and Betty Inskeep in Carmel, Indiana. Growing up with loving adoptive parents shaped his foundational views on kinship, biological origins, and identity.
Decades later, Steve and Carolee decided to expand their family through adoption. In 2012, after years of paperwork and vetting, they traveled to Nanning, China, to bring home their daughter Ava. Writing candidly about the experience in national essays, Steve reflected on the profound symmetry of the situation. He recognized his younger self in his daughter's journey, acknowledging the complex mix of loss and promise inherent in every adoptive transition.
When Roland Inskeep passed away in December 2013, the family experienced the quiet closing of an emotional circle. Roland had welcomed Steve into an Indiana home four decades earlier without conditions. In turn, Carolee and Steve welcomed Ava into their home, extending that tradition of unconditional care across national borders and cultural divides. Carolee's professional background in tracking displaced children in census records added a quiet, poignant resonance to her role as an adoptive parent.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
