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In the past few weeks I have seen several articles about birthmothers and adoption. Like most articles I read that pertain to birthmothers and adoption, there are positive points, points I liked, as well as points that made me cringe and points I thought they could have left out but overall I think these articles are pretty good.
I thought I’d highlight a few of those articles and the positive points here.
This article titled Celebrating Birthmothers out of the Calgary Herald discusses Birthmother’s Day and features bits of the story of a 23 year old birthmother named Tina Johnson who placed a now 8 year old boy in an open adoption directly following his birth when she was 15 years old.
The article describes open adoption a bit mentioning how Tina Johnson has a relationship with her son, although it is far from a normal mother/son relationship. It describes that open adoptions need and have boundaries but that there is also a sense of grief and loss for the birthmothers involved. I think my favorite quote by Ms. Johnson in the article is probably this one:
“Grief is something the birth mother experiences even if she’s confident that adoption is the right decision. It really is a life-altering experience. There is so much loss involved. I remember feeling like I had given away part of myself. It’s not natural to go through that whole experience and then to place your child,” she says. “You feel really, really lonely after. I remember feeling empty.
This article out of USA Today features the story of birthmother who doesn’t fit the usual birthmother stereotypes. Thirty six year old Renee Siegfort was already a mother of three teenagers when she became pregnant with her fourth child. Once Renee decided on open adoption, she involved her kids in the process. They looked through over 100 profiles until they found the right family.
The article goes on to talk about openness and quotes Adam Pertman from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
The bond between the two families reflects a trend toward openness in adoption. In up to 90% of domestic infant adoptions, Pertman says, adoptive parents maintain some contact with birth parents.
I also liked that the article touched on and noted that open adoption isn’t always easy by quoting another birthmother.
“It’s not easy to have an open adoption,” says Courtney Lewis, who placed a baby boy for adoption 11 years ago when she was in college. She says she was upset when her son was 4 and his adoptive parents divorced. “Maybe if it had been a closed adoption, it wouldn’t hurt as bad.”
And last but not least, I must share an Associated Press article about birthmothers, Birthmother’s Day, and Mother’s Day that used bits and pieces of my own adoption story. Being an Associated Press article it was in many different papers but I like this version out of The Orlando Sentinel best as it includes different photos of me, Charlie, and his adoptive Mom.
Have you seen a positive news story featuring open adoption in the news lately? If so, let me know!
I appreciate the well informed article. I have my baptism records but do not have the so called follow up records. Any further ideas. This has really been seriously on my mind lately and was not really of an issue in the past, i guess we all change and want to learn.
[...] Birthmothers and Open Adoption In the News (May 31, 2009): about a few articles that involved birthmothers in open adoptions. [...]