| Adoptee's Voice |
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My name is Anne and i'm an author, nurse, a Reiki Master/Practitioner and
also an adoptee. There are millions of Americans who are affected by
adoption, whether because they are adoptees, birth parents, adoptive
parents, or extended family members. I have created this website to raise
awareness concerning legal and social issues relating to adoption.
Because there still remains many misconceptions about why adoptees and
birth parents wish to seek out each other, I've written a memoir The
Sound of Hope portraying my life as an adoptee. A good number of
adoptive parents, and society in general, often feel that birth parents and
adoptees don't have the right to search and be reunited. When a reunion
does take place, the common view is that both parties should simply meet
and then get on with their own lives. Birth parents are told, "leave your
biological children alone, let them live out their lives with the adoptive
families", and the adoptees are told, "forget your past, your adoptive
parents are your real family now, you're being ungrateful for even
thinking about searching". And yet, every time someone learns of an
adoptees's adoption status or that a birth parent relinquished a child; the
first question is, "Are you going to search?" Obviously searching is
important and a human basic need, otherwise society wouldn't keep
asking this question over and over.
Adoptee's and birth parents seek out each other because there's simply an
innate need to know. As an adoptee, I felt a strong desire to know where I
came from and why I was placed for adoption. Birth parents need to
know how their biological children are faring. How are they doing, are
they happy, do they know I love them and wanted the best for them? As a
mother of three children, I know I'd be devastated if life circumstances
forced me to make the decision to place my child for adoption. I too, like
many birth parents, would want to know about the welfare of my child
and someday have the opportunity for a reunion.
My sincerest wish is to show adoptive parents and society that it's
unnatural for people to be separated from their family, whether biological
or adoptive. When adoptees decide to search for their birth parents, it
has nothing to do with the adoptive parents, but everything to do with
filling an inner void, a natural and healthy tendency to know your own
history.
Most importantly, I wish to spread the idea that adoptees can forge
healthy relationships between both their biological and adoptive family
and it's in the emotional and psychological best interest of all parties in
the adoption triangle to make this their goal.
It's time for the adoptee to emerge and venture forward, telling our side
of the story. We should not be made to pick sides: adoptive parents
versus the birth parents. Both sets are important and play special roles in
our lives. Adopted children are at the heart of adoption and our emotional
needs, and legal rights to our own vital records should be made a priority.
| The Heart & Soul of Adoption |
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Visit Anne on myspace
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NEW JERSEY Senate Bill 611,
The Adoptee Birthright Bill,
sponsored by Senators Joe Vitale (D-
Middlesex) and Diane Allen (R-
Burlington) was released by a
unanimous vote of the Committee on
Health, Human Services and Senior
Citizens on Thursday, January 24,
2008. Testimony was heard from
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, of Run-DMC
Hip Hop fame, Adam Pertman,
Director of the Evan B. Donaldson
Adoption Institute, and Fred
Greenman, AAC’s legal adviser.
Anyone with a New Jersey
connection who wants to help lobby
for passage (either a current NJ
resident, or a member of the
adoption constellation who
relinquished, was born or adopted a
child in New Jersey) is encouraged to
be in touch with
pamhasegawa@gmail.com.
For updates on bill status, please go
to www.njleg.state.nj.us and enter
S611 in the “Bill number” box, or go
to www.nj-care.org for more
information.
The Adoptee Birthright Bill,
sponsored by Senators Joe Vitale (D-
Middlesex) and Diane Allen (R-
Burlington) was released by a
unanimous vote of the Committee on
Health, Human Services and Senior
Citizens on Thursday, January 24,
2008. Testimony was heard from
Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, of Run-DMC
Hip Hop fame, Adam Pertman,
Director of the Evan B. Donaldson
Adoption Institute, and Fred
Greenman, AAC’s legal adviser.
Anyone with a New Jersey
connection who wants to help lobby
for passage (either a current NJ
resident, or a member of the
adoption constellation who
relinquished, was born or adopted a
child in New Jersey) is encouraged to
be in touch with
pamhasegawa@gmail.com.
For updates on bill status, please go
to www.njleg.state.nj.us and enter
S611 in the “Bill number” box, or go
to www.nj-care.org for more
information.
Listen to BlogTalkRadio about the upcoming memoir, The Sound of Hope blogtalkradio/AngelLesa |