Desperate Circumstances

I have great sympathy for woman who find themselves pregnant and alone, facing the imminent birth of their child unsupported. Both of my adoptee parents’ mothers were such women; and in fact, both of my sisters were as well. In desperate circumstances, many women have chosen the permanent solution of adoption (surrendering their child) to their temporary problem of inadequate resources.

This morning, I found myself once again reading the story of Steve Inskeep, who is the co-host of NPR’s Morning Edition. Today it was in The Atlantic. An article titled LINK>No One’s Children. Twice, back in 2021, I wrote a blog here that mentions Steve Inskeep. While he downplays at times how much it means to him to know his story, it keeps popping up, which leads me to believe it DOES matter to him as much as it has mattered to me. I think he has finally fully absorbed that and concludes the latest in The Atlantic with – “Adoptees have a right to their own history.” I could not agree more. I know how much what I now know of my own biological and genetic family means to me personally.

The first one I wrote that mentioned him was in late March 2021 LINK>Adoptees Deserve Better. Then a second time in early April 2021 LINK>A Deep Yearning, after I had read and in that blog, linked his op-ed in The New York Times from March 28th – I Was Denied My Birth Story. So today was now the 3rd time. I rest my case that it actually matters a lot to him. The Atlantic piece is longer. I am glad that someone with a bit of name recognition keeps telling the adoptee story.

Following the mention of E Wayne Carp in Inskeep’s Atlantic piece – I discovered that the author had written several adoption related books. Books by him include in 1998 – Family Matters, Secrecy and Disclosure in the History of Adoption. And then in 2004 – Adoption Politics, Bastard Nation & Ballot Initiative. Finally in 2014 – Jean Paton and the Struggle to Reform American Adoption. None of these have I read. However, in searching for that author, I discovered Rudy Owens.

Owens has written a memoir – LINK>You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are. On New Year’s Day in this 2024 year, he posted a YouTube reflecting on Adoptee Rights. Echoing Rudy Owens today, I say – “This blog of mine is my best effort to support adoptee rights. It would be a wonderful thing if I could go to Denmark and meet some of my own biological relatives on my dad’s paternal side. It is true, my dad was a bastard. His young mother had an affair with a married man, not yet an American citizen. Therefore, she was pregnant and alone. As a resourceful woman, she handled the situation the best she could.”