Lots of readers have been emailing me lately with topic requests. I am loving it, so keep it coming!

One adoptive mother recently asked:

”We are in a semi open adoption with our child’s birthmother and send her pictures every other month. I am wondering if we should send pictures of our daughter with ourselves and other family members or just send pictures of our daughter only. Also, I was going to write things on the back of the photo if there is a little story about something going on in the picture. Is that a good idea? I don’t want to make this harder on her emotionally than it already is.”

Well, I am only one birthmother so I can’t speak collectively for every birthmother out there (and maybe some of them will chime in with their thoughts in the comments) but I personally like to see photos of Charlie with his family as well as pictures of Charlie by himself.

I placed Charlie with a family and I enjoy seeing him interact with that family. I enjoy seeing that he is happy and that he fits in with that family. I also enjoy pictures of Charlie and his sister. I purposely chose a family that already had children because of the sibling bond I had with my own brother growing up and when I see pictures of Charlie and his sister I am immediately reminded of that bond.

I do like the stories that go along with the photographs and do enjoy hearing them. It helps me to learn Charlie’s personality and sometimes the stories that go along with the photographs make the actual photo even more meaningful to me. I also enjoy seeing photos of Charlie wearing something I gave him or playing with a toy I gave him.

Sure, at times seeing pictures of Charlie can be bittersweet but it also reaffirms the fact that he is healthy, happy, and thriving.