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First of all, this is from my journal. Second, I don't mean to offend anyone by that term. I certainly don't mean it in a derogatory sense. It's just a matter of fact.
I knew when I was born that I was sick & in the hospital. I thought it was only a couple days with my mother being there the whole time. But no. I was in the hospital a month & then in foster care for another month or so. The first person I bonded with was my foster mother, who then handed me to my bio mother, who was really messed up & had no maternal inclinations.
So how does this make me feel? Well, everything. I'm angry that out of all my dozens of stable relatives, no one was there when I needed them the most & I was handed over to a stranger. I'm not surprised by this though. I feel connected to my family, but there's always this huge wedge & because I always wanted a better life I thought it was me that put it there. Well, I didn't put it there, they did & it's always been there, so the guilt of that is removed. I feel relieved because there is a logical explanation for the way I've always felt. I've always felt like my needs were an inconvenience to others. I've often felt like I'm better off being alone. I've felt like a misfit & like I belong nowhere. And I've always felt unwanted.
Now, I thought I felt this way because of a traumatic experience with my first step father. I was about 4 when he entered my life & he was an emotional bully. He never laid a hand on me in hindsite, but I was always afraid that he would at any second. But now I realize that he never stole any ability for me to bond with anyone, because I didn't have it to begin with. I don't feel so scarred, so damaged. He didn't steal from me something I didn't have & honestly I don't feel so abnormal now. There is a more logical, less traumatic reason for the way I feel & it's not so bad. I'm actually normal!
Weird I know, but it's true. Anyway, thanks for listening.
I'm a foster parent, not a foster child, but I wanted to tell you that I appreciate your post and your feelings. It's good that you are journaling. It's a great way to express anger and hurt and just the process of physically writing things down sometimes helps sort out feelings.
Secrets can be really devastating in a family. In general, I think it's a good policy to be open about things. So, I am sorry that your family kept from you the story of your birth and early months. I'm sure they did it out of a feeling of protectiveness or perhaps embarrassment.
There are probably a lot of complicated reasons why a family member wasn't able to take you when you were an infant. It doesn't mean you weren't wanted or loved.
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Even though I'm just now seeing this thread I'm going to reply anyway and hope you come back eventually. I just wanted to encourage you that not being the "huggy/lovey/let's share our feelings" type of person doesn't mean that you are unable to bond with anyone. Some of us are just wired differently. I also want you to know that, speaking from personal experience, it is possible to change your family tree. Your biology or upbringing does not doom you to a similar future. For me, it took two things to break out of my family's mold.
1. Learning how to make better choices through reading everything I could find on the subjects of finances, education, family structure, parenting, etc.
2. A personal relationship with the only perfect Father there is who has always loved me in spite of my faults, my failures, and my self-centeredness. Feeling completely unconditionally loved gave me the ability and desire to share that kind of love with others and helped me recognize it in the man who became my husband over 11 years ago.
You're going to be okay,
Jess
Just know that it is HIGHLY possible that you were desperately wanted.....by your foster parents. You don't have to look far on this forum to find many who loved their foster child and wanted to adopt but had to hand the child back over to unstable bioparents. Have you considered finding the person that fostered you right out of the hospital? Meeting and speaking to them could do you a world of good.
Kim
I am a foster mom who got a set of twins right out of the hospital. I had them for two months before they riped them out of my arms to give them back to their bio mom who was still in rehab. I told them I thought they were making a mistake. They don't listen to the foster parents. Well, as it turns out the twins are back in care and they called us to see if we were interested in adoption. We are of course. They are 5 months old now. Your story helps me out a great deal with dealing with adopting my twins. You always worry about the adopted kids growing up to miss the bio parents. I never thought a child could grow up to miss the foster parents. Thank you for your story.
This is very late (single mom of 4 boys) but I want to add: it's possible your bio relatives didn't take you was in your best interest. My first foster was 2 sisters who had 3 siblings. They had 1 aunt in my town 2 others not that far away. C, the oldest girl, had lived with one aunt when she was a baby for 4-5 years. then bio mom came back and took her. the aunts lived their nieces and nephews but didn't want the kids put in the middle of their bio parents drama.
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