I’m sure most of you have heard or read about the tragedy at Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Iowa in which four boy scouts were killed as the result of a sudden tornado. One of those boys killed was thirteen year old Sam Thomsen. While reading an article covering this tragedy, I learned that Sam was adopted. Now normally mentioning that someone who died was adopted would annoy me a tad if it wasn’t imperative to the story, but the way it was done in this article and by Sam’s parents tugged at my heart.

You see, Sam was born three months premature and then placed for adoption. Because of his prematurity, doctors feared that he might have vision, hearing, or other life long problems. That made it harder for the adoption agency to find adoptive parents for Sam. After suffering two miscarriages, Sharon and Larry Thomsen heard about baby Sam and decided to adopt him. Fortunately, Sam suffered no lasting problems as a result of his premature birth.

Sam had a closed adoption and the Thomsen’s have no information about his birth parents except that she lived in their area. Sam’s mother, Sharon, thinks that his birthmother may hear the news of Sam’s death and figure out the connection and has put it out there that their family is willing to talk to her if she is comfortable with it.

With the massive news coverage of this tragedy and information about Sam being so public in the news at the moment, it’s likely that his birthmother could very well figure out the connection or at least wonder if he is her son. My heart goes out to her. I just can’t even imagine what she would feel if she reads a report and wonders if it could be her son. I hope that the word is out there enough that the Thomsen’s are willing to talk with her and that when the time is right, she will at least be able to learn about her son through them.


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In the News Category
Adoption News Blog

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