In my life I have come across many things that annoy me about adoption. The private international adoption system does NOT give adoptees much information about their birth families. ANNOYING!
My parents were given a written report about my mothers "history." The report included NOTHING about my mothers REAL history - who my mother is as a person etc. No physical description of her, nothing about her medical history or her character in general. Just the fact that she was a stripper and that she got raped but it DID mention she had denied being involved in prostitution...because I am sure that was more important than whether or not cancer ran in my family.
The system ripped away ALL record of me being born to my mother. She has NO birth certificate of me. She has no hospital picture. She has nothing. Infact, when I called the "carabineros" or (Chilean Police) - they have record of my mother being an unwed mother of four. Four?!? Why only four when we are FIVE?!? THERE ARE FIVE OF US!!!!!
The system erased all public record of me being born to my mother when I entered the private adoption system. What makes the system think they can take that away from my mother and I ?!? It bothers me. Annoyes me! I want to see what time I was born at. I want to see the signed paper...with my mothers signature...and my little footprint.
For the last 25 years...my admission into this world has been questionable. When I go home- I plan to visit the office of vital statistics AND the hospital in which I was born, erased and then RECREATED. I want to see my original birth certificate...I want to see the beginning...the REAL beginning.
Which brings me to my second annoyance that I will talk about tonight. ***Sighhhh***....
I have a "fake" birth certificate. A certificate of "live birth" from the State Of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It says I was born July 2, 1983...to Rebecca and Gary Cooper. However, the DAY (of the week) is left blank and the hospital name and time of birth both say "------." Gee, I gotta be honest- that certainly has NOT helped me in my search to establish a sense of self. Well, whatever.
And finally, the last annoyance for now... the adoption advertisement! Yes, that is right- my mom and dad's first notification of me came via mail as a cute little pamphlet advertisement. (Insert: EXTREME sarcasm).
The pamphlet cover has a small baby hand grasping a womans hand. The womans hand has a wedding band on her ring finger. The pamphlet reads as follows:
My parents were given a written report about my mothers "history." The report included NOTHING about my mothers REAL history - who my mother is as a person etc. No physical description of her, nothing about her medical history or her character in general. Just the fact that she was a stripper and that she got raped but it DID mention she had denied being involved in prostitution...because I am sure that was more important than whether or not cancer ran in my family.
The system ripped away ALL record of me being born to my mother. She has NO birth certificate of me. She has no hospital picture. She has nothing. Infact, when I called the "carabineros" or (Chilean Police) - they have record of my mother being an unwed mother of four. Four?!? Why only four when we are FIVE?!? THERE ARE FIVE OF US!!!!!
The system erased all public record of me being born to my mother when I entered the private adoption system. What makes the system think they can take that away from my mother and I ?!? It bothers me. Annoyes me! I want to see what time I was born at. I want to see the signed paper...with my mothers signature...and my little footprint.
For the last 25 years...my admission into this world has been questionable. When I go home- I plan to visit the office of vital statistics AND the hospital in which I was born, erased and then RECREATED. I want to see my original birth certificate...I want to see the beginning...the REAL beginning.
Which brings me to my second annoyance that I will talk about tonight. ***Sighhhh***....
I have a "fake" birth certificate. A certificate of "live birth" from the State Of Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It says I was born July 2, 1983...to Rebecca and Gary Cooper. However, the DAY (of the week) is left blank and the hospital name and time of birth both say "------." Gee, I gotta be honest- that certainly has NOT helped me in my search to establish a sense of self. Well, whatever.
And finally, the last annoyance for now... the adoption advertisement! Yes, that is right- my mom and dad's first notification of me came via mail as a cute little pamphlet advertisement. (Insert: EXTREME sarcasm).
The pamphlet cover has a small baby hand grasping a womans hand. The womans hand has a wedding band on her ring finger. The pamphlet reads as follows:
"Dos ojitos que brillan...Una tierna y preciosa sonrisa...y una debil manito que se celga suavemente de tu dedo...es tu nuevo bebe. Es Maravilloso! Mil felicitaciones."
(Two little eyes that sparkle...A tender and precious smile...and a weak little hand that hangs softly to your finger...it is your new baby. It's Marvelous! Millions Congratulations.
Inside the pamphlet are two pictures of me. Stapled inside. And that was the introduction of me to my new family. A freakin pamphlet. One that probably all perspective adoptive parents received with photographs of their babies. I plan to soon scan and upload this standardized pamphlet that was mailed to my parents for you all to see.
In closing, I try to remember one thing...it is not about how I got here, it is about what I plan to do with myself now that I am here. One of those things being telling this story...ALL of this story. The good, the sad, the painful...and most importantly the TRUTH.
Wishing you all a goodnight, for now, DUERMA BIEN = sleep well :)
PEACE!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment