Monday, February 07, 2005

Is this torture?

I met a girl the other day who was adopted. She had tried extensively to find her bio parents to no avail. It seems that her adoption was "closed." In other words, according to “American Law” she is a woman who does not have the right to know who her mom and dad are. Doesn't this contrary seem to the "culture of life" George W. Bush talks about? Doesn't this seem cruel? All she wants is to be able to talk to her mom and dad!!!! Just talk. Children who are "victims" of closed adoptions deserve better.
She is a beautiful blue eyed blond with a sweet disposition. Anyone would consider themselves fortunate to have her as a friend. Yet, she lives with a tormented soul because some jackass wrote the laws that have effectively imprisoned her to not know anything, literally. What color is her mom's hair? Does her mom love her? What is my family's complete medical history? Why? In other words, the basic questions every single person has about her mom and dad. There are so many questions she needs and wants answers for. Is a crime of immeasurable heartlessness is being committed against her? She says she is at peace, but let's be real. How can you ask another human being to forget about her mom and dad when she knows they are still alive somewhere in this world?
It's impossible. The lingering questions never go away...They eat away at you...I know. I was adopted. I did not know anything about my mother and father until I was 30 years old. Literally, I did not know a thing about them. My adoption experience did not go well. In fact, just last week my adoptive mother attempted suicide, again. Fortunately, my adoption was not "closed." However, the negative stigma surrounding finding bio-parents almost prevented me from going to find them. Now that I have known my bio-parents for the few years, I can not imagine what my life would be like without them. My point is, I know what it's like to not know where your mom and dad are. It's a feeling of unimaginable emptiness. The weight of the world presses on your chest. You feel like you are in a void where no one is capable of understanding you. It's a life long nightmare that you really feel you did nothing to deserve. My adopted sister could not take it, and she committed suicide. So, you don’t “get over it.” It's who you are!
Even if this girl I just met has an adoptive mother and father who are the sweetest and most loving people in the world those lingering questions are still there. They are still unanswered.
And there's something else...What if there is a hereditary defect that was undisclosed? What if that information could save her life one day? It's more common than you think. My bio-father and bio-grandfather both have a thyroid condition that didn't show up until they were in there 40's. My bio-father almost died from it. My grandfather didn't bother to tell him about it. A doctor discovered it at the last minute, literally. After the incident was over my grandfather said to my father, "Oh I thought you knew there was a thyroid defect, it's been in our family for generations." He knew absolutely nothing about it!! What would have happened to me if I didn't find them and find out about it? Now, what about this sweet innocent girl who's life could be at risk? What can be done for her?

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