Dear DMC,
I am always interested in stories of adoption, especially when they turn out to be adult adoptees. When I saw you on TV and when you spoke about your adoption and how and when you found out, I just knew where you were coming from. I knew exactly how you felt.
You see, I found out I was adopted when I was 49 years old. I am now 57. My adopted mother was very ill and the depression she was feeling, she thought, was this secret she kept for so long with my adopted dad (who passed away when I was 20). When she told me I was in complete shock. Their love for me was limitless and I have to say that I was brought up in a wonderful upper-middle class family (cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) who just loved and adored me. I was very lucky in that respect. The other shocking thing was that the entire family knew and they all kept this secret….amazing.
But, everything I thought was true was not. I had a major upset in my life. I didn’t know who I really was, where I came from, who were my biological family and where they were. All this at the age of 49! I didn’t know who to speak to, didn’t know where to start to look for my family. When my Mom died I decided to look for my birth-mom and birth-dad. After many, many months of searching I did find out some background info. Long story short…my sister and brothers want nothing to do with me and my Birth Mom has totally blocked me out. My birth-Dad, who by the way was a musician in Chicago, died back in the 70’s. I was brought up Jewish and I was born Italian/Irish Catholic, how about that culture shock.
Anyway, there’s a lot more to my story….I won’t bore you. I just wanted to let you know that there are a lot of us. I’m hoping one day all adoption records will be open and people like me can find out in more detail who they are and of course what their medical history is. I heard there is a march every summer in DC….maybe one year I’ll go.
You take care.
Sincerely,
Renee
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