My parents always tell people they "ordered out" when it came to having children. It is a running joke in my family. Their way of saying that they adopted me. My name is Jake Buckingham and I'm a writer, director and filmmaker. Over the last 20 years I've told and shared many powerful stories. The only one I haven't told is the one I'm working on right now. It's the story of my journey to find my birth family.

I was adopted from the Philippines in July of 1987. My birth mother, Victoriana Nadal, who made the difficult but very courageous choice to give me up for adoption, surrendered me at birth and I lived in an orphanage for five months before I made my journey to the United States of America. The state of Nebraska to be exact. My adoptive parents could not have any biological children of their own because of infertility issues so they chose to adopt. I grew up in a hard-working, middle class family in South Omaha. My parents worked full-time jobs to pay the bills, put food on the table and send me to a private elementary school. I was an introvert growing up but singing, drawing and writing helped me find myself during those early years.

My dream job was to be a television news anchor and reporter and to work for a national television network. I pursued a degree in Broadcast Journalism and was hired by WOWT-TV, the NBC affiliate in Omaha in August 2005 shortly after graduating high school. I spent the next five years of my early college career working as a production assistant, graphic artist, news photographer and video editor for WOWT-TV. I reached the network level in 2010 when I moved to New York City to work for ABC News 20/20 and Primetime Thursday. I had reached the pinnacle of my television career and accomplished every goal I set for myself. Those experiences shaped me as a person and a professional. And after spending years working in television, I transitioned to a career focused on writing and telling stories for businesses, corporations and nonprofits. And for more than 10 years now, I've told some incredible stories from the nonprofit world where I have worked as a writer, director, producer and filmmaker.

Storytelling is at the heart of everything I do. And this is the story of my own journey to find my birth family. It is a deeply personal account of my experiences and struggles to find the woman who gave me life.  I  grew up knowing nothing about my birth family, but always knew they were out there. I hope by sharing my story, it will help others who might be on similar journeys in life.

I invite you to join me on MY GREATEST JOURNEY: SEARCHING FOR MY BIRTH FAMILY.