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"My
adoption story"
by Brandy L.
Hi all, let me tell you my little story! When I was 20 years old
I became pregnant with my son from a guy who was only a friend of
mine. When I told him I was pregnant he wanted nothing to do with
either of us and tried to convince me to get an abortion. I told
him I didn't need him to raise a child and that he will know the
name of his father and when he knocks on your door later in life
you will have to deal with the questions.
My
boss and his wife offered several times to adopt my child, they
said they could give my child a better life, I didn't agree with
them and quit my job.
I
joined a Lamaze class for unwed mothers at a home on Broadview Ave
in Toronto, although I did not live there a lot of young girls did,
these girls were unwed and teenagers, the home provided them with
shelter, schooling and social skills and once their baby was born,
they taught them mother skills and helped them get a job and an
apartment.
This
is a first choice that all pregnant mothers should be given prior
to adoption.
The
father of my child called me two weeks before my son was born and
said he had a change of heart and wanted to be involved in my son's
life. We spent a lot of time together as he visited his son and
6 months after my son was born we moved in together and are now
married and also have a daughter. We are a VERY happy family and
very close, imagine if I had in a weak moment agreed to my bosses
suggestion. I would not have my daughter, and we would not have
the beautiful family that we do right now.
We
have to understand that when a girl or woman is pregnant, especially
for the first time she has no realization of how important this
child will be in her life. A mother should be given the chance to
bond with her child, why do you think that they took baby's away
from the mother right away, because they were afraid that they would
bond and that the mother would change her mind. You don't need to
be rich to raise a child, yes we need money, all you need is a roof
over your head and food in your stomach and love and respect for
each other, everything else is a luxury.
This
is why I do not agree with advertising pregnant mothers to call
a number to place there baby for adoption. Even if they offer counselling,
how long is the counselling for. It doesn't take days or weeks to
get over a decision like that, we need to find ways to help unwed
mothers so that they don't even need to face that decision. Some
one should promote that first, then if the mother decides she would
rather place her child for adoption then educate her on the pro's
and con's of adoption.
After
I had my son and daughter both my husband and I knew that this was
all the children we were going to have, so we went to the Doctor
to get my husband a vasectomy. He said we were to young and that
things could change, we could win the lotto and might want more
children. He held us off for 5 years before agreeing that it was
o.k to get it done.
All
I am saying is situations do change and I don't think it is fair
that a mother be given the option to place their child up for adoption
when she has no idea of what being a mother is. She will only know
once the baby is born, trust me if more people got the help and
support and time to bond with their child, the adoption rate of
newborns would drop. Then maybe the children that really need a
home would finally get one.
I
do agree that many children need to be adopted or fostered, these
are children from homes that the parents failed or that society
failed the parents. We need to promote homes for these children,
not young mothers that are scared and alone, we need to find a way
to support them and comfort them and give them time and a chance
to bond with their child before making a decision they may later
regret.
I
know we all have our own opinions and this is only mine, but it
is one that I feel very strongly on, my mother kept my brother for
a year before placing him for adoption, they would not even give
her a job because she was an unwed mother, landlords would not rent
her an apartment. If he had been born today I would now have a brother,
to talk to, laugh with, cry with, hold and hug and maybe even
nieces and nephews.
We
have come a long way but we still need to go a little further to
help unwed mothers and that is by giving them a better 1st choice.
Brandy
In-Search-Of:
natural brother born October 7, 1963 at the Lachine General Hospital,
Quebec, Canada. BIRTH NAME: James (Jamie) Francis Sherrington
placed for adoption at age one through Red Feather (Place Ville
Marie) now Batshaw. My mother was told that the Adoptive parents
had tried for ten years to have a child, the mother was a teacher
and the father and engineer. My mother requested that at least
his first name stay the same James but she always called him Jamie.
You know if this happened and if they kept the same birth date.
Hopefully
one day I will find out the truth! Unfortunately this was the
only OPTION my mother was given! How unfair to all of us.
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