Views about adoption raise unkind assumptions
Dear Amy: I was adopted at 5 months old, in 1947.
I am very happy with my adopted parents and never knew my birth parents. I was completely loved by my adoptive family and always felt like a "real" family member.
When my children were small, I tried to find out about my birth parents, only to be told the files were sealed.
My problem is that occasionally someone who knows that I'm adopted will say I'm not really part of my adoptive family and can't claim the family's history as my own. I'm really confused and hurt.
My father and grandparents always taught me about our family history in our state, so I could tell my children for them to carry on the family history.
A lot of people I know don't understand why I didn't/don't want to find my birth parents.
I had wonderful parents; they are the only parents I have ever known and, according to them, I picked them, so to me that means we were meant to be a family!
And they loved me from the beginning. So to me, they are my parents, not my "adoptive parents."
Why are people so picky about who my "real" parents are?
Do I need to think about this differently?
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