Diane Wheaton

A reunited adoptee, was born in Oakland, California. After being relinquished, she was placed in foster care for over two months before being adopted by a Naval Officer and his wife. Raised a Navy Brat the first ten years of her life, she lived in Japan, Hawaii, Virginia, and California, eventually settling with her parents after her father retired from the Navy in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, a coastal suburb near Los Angeles. This is where she calls home, where she grew up, made life-long friends, and where she eventually met her husband.

After being married several years, and over twelve years as an executive administrative assistant in the corporate world, she became a full-time mother raising two beautiful children, a daughter and son, respectively. 

Adopted in the closed adoption system, Diane decided to move beyond the fear of the unknown and began to search for her biological family, mid-life, in a closed state. An advocate for open records and adoption reform, and always wanting to write a novel, Diane decided to embark on a new journey; writing a memoir about her experience searching and reuniting with her birth family, hoping that what she learned in the process could help others within the adoption triad and those outside it as well.

Diane’s upcoming memoir entitled, Unfolding Secrets, will be published by She Writes Press in fall 2024. Diane is a member of The National Association of Memoir Writers (NAMW), and She Writes, an online community for women writers. She was a contributing author to the adult adoptee anthology, Flip the Script. Diane lives in Southern California with her husband, Michael, and their Alaskan Malamute, Sweet Cheyenne Wind.