As I began to learn about my own parent’s identities (they were both adopted and died knowing next to nothing about that), it very quickly dawned on me how awful it must be, to be forced to live a false identity.  Most people never even consider that.

This is the statute for only one state but most states are the same regarding adoption laws.

Why is it so difficult to just love a child in a parental way without the ownership of that child? Adoption legally strips away a child’s heritage and attempts to force another one on them. Is it any wonder that adoptees struggle with identity?

When my cousin from my dad’s original mother and I discovered each other, I said I had his adoption certificate.  She immediately noticed something I didn’t, his mother’s name wasn’t on the paper.  Instead the Salvation Army had taken “ownership” of him.

One doesn’t own a child like they own a pet or car or house.  A child is also a human being.  Take away their name and the name of their original parents, what’s left?

Something that is no longer wholly real.  Sadly.