Recommending Adoption! (from experience!)

Hello all, just wanted to shed some light on a situation I've dealt with first hand!

I know there are a lot of people in a situation where they find themselves pregnant, and are not sure what they want or can do in life at that point. I am not "pro-abortion" and I am not "anti-abortion", I just believe that in many cases (definitely not all), it is used as an easy way out.

I would like to mention some wonderful points of adoption as a possibility, provided that you can carry the baby for the full term...

I was born to a single mother of 17 years old. She originally wanted to raise me herself, and abortion never crossed her mind (obviously, I'm here...). As the pregnancy carried on, she started to look at other young, single parents who were having financial and social trouble due to their child. After seeing a counselor about this, and meeting with others, she eventually decided that adoption was the appropriate route for her, and for me.

I want to bring out the fact that I have had a wonderful life because of this... and the fact that I am truly glad I had a life at all! I was adopted to two of the most loving parents anyone could ask for, who were financially stable, and just stable in life altogether. If my birth mother had decided to raise me, niether of us would have had nearly as good of lives as we have had.

20 years later (2 years ago), we connected through a website (I believe it was link removed, or something along those lines). I had never known her, and had never actually known any blood relative at all, so this was quite an experience for me! We have since spent very much time together, and we see eachother usually one weekend a month (it's a 4 hour drive). She has come and stayed with my adopted family, and everyone has a great relationship between the families! I go and stay a weekend with her and my two sisters (an added bonus) now and then as well, and everyone from that family is just as wonderful as I could have hoped for! The greatest part, you ask? She can't tell me what to do! No, seriously... we are like best friends, we go out drinkin' and stay up late talking about life, it's really a great friendship with a special bond, different than a "parent-child" situation.

I just wanted to shed some light on adoption, many people don't hear positive stories, but I think it is a wonderful thing, and support it with all my heart! There are so many loving parents waiting to adopt a child, and the waiting lists are tremedously long... If this is a possible solution for anyone, I urge you to look into it further!

Any other stories out there? I'd love to hear some!

Thanks!

S.A.M.

I am so glad things turned out great for you! It gives me so much hope that someday I'll be reunited with the daughter I have never known. The circumstances are complex and maybe someday I'll be ready to share, but suffice it to say there hasn't been a day thats gone by in the past 2 years that I have not thought about her. I hope that she is in a wonderful home like you had with people who love her and spoil her rotten. I even have presents that I am saving for her when I can finally find her again.

Only 16 years and 32 more days to go.

Thanks again for your story. I feel better.

Hi avman!

I'm glad you understand my story... and I'm sure your daughter is doing very well. The processes that potential adoptive parents go through pretty much ensure that they will be great parents, so trust that.

Someday you may know her, and you also may not, but either way, trust in the power above that she will have a happy and content life.

I really commend you for giving this gift to someone who most likely wasn't able to bring a child into this world. I can assure you from my experience and others I know, I have never felt that I was without a true family. I have never felt abandoned and my parents were always by my side. Whether we shared the same blood or not, we shared the same love and tears.

Thank you for your post!

S.A.M.