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I am here to ask for help. I was recently united with my daughter who I had to give up for adoption 45 years ago. I never tried to hide and because of the laws in Il and my lack of memory of the event I had no way of even starting to find her. I had registered with the state and finally she found me. I had heard that it is best to follow the requests of the adoptee so I have. One of her early stipulations was email only. Okay I thought. At first she was great. Open and excited and wanting to meet me. But within weeks she cooled to a mild chill. We have met. I thought it went okay but since then we have had very little contact. Still the embargo on talking. I have asked why and she says nothing but "I like email". I suspect that email only keeps it from being too personal, human. I had made two appointments to talk to her, once on her birthday and once two weeks ago. She agreed but did not answer the phone. She was concerned regarding my history and thought that it was pretty disfunctional. Which is the truth, however she also did not believe me. She finally agreed to talk to a person I have known since 4th grade. She did. She told this person she could not believe that her bfa and sibs could possibly be the way I say they are. (but they are!!!) Any way her fa and sib do not want her in their lives and have said so but now she is continuing to try to push them into doing it her way and talking to her. I understand she wants to know them. She just found out she was adopted and is hell bent to connect with her family even though they have sent a very clear message. I understand on one hand but also believe they have a right to their boundaries.
At any rate my real question is: she has cooled off so much I hardly ever hear from her. Not unless she wants some sort of info or I email her first. I am broken hearted but am trying to stay out of her way and frankly trying to keep from being crushed any more than I have been. It really hurts. I had been without her for 45 years and ofcourse I had the romantic idea that we would at the very least become friends. I do not see that happening and I know I can't force her to want me in her life but I wish she would. Sooo why is this happening? Can any one help me understand????? :confused:
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Denisesmom
I do not think you can control any of this.. You are doing your best and telling your truths..
And there is nothing wrong with being dysfunctional.. I am pretty dysfunctional as well.. heck I went on and got stoned for many years after I gave my son up.. and he did back off when I told him..
She is an adult.. and her father does have to deal with the consequences of his actions.. as you have..
If she has just found out she was adopted then she may be reacting etc..
None of this is on you.. You have done the best you can..
Its really hard to come out of the fantasy.. I relinquished in 1965 and reunited in late 1999.. Nothing happened the way I thought it would happen.. and I had to let him go a second time.. we are friends now but not close..
I had to learn how to accept this..
She may need a lot of time to sort things.. And there is nothing you can do to sort this for her..
I am sorry to say that for some this is common.. Reunion is incredibly difficult..
Give her time.. let her go.. let her make her own mistakes or right things..
Be open for contact and work through the emotions you are into.. Stay with us..
Jackie
She was concerned regarding my history and thought that it was pretty dysfunctional. Which is the truth, however she also did not believe me. She finally agreed to talk to a person I have known since 4th grade. She did. She told this person she could not believe that her bfa and sibs could possibly be the way I say they are. (but they are!!!) Any way her fa and sib do not want her in their lives and have said so but now she is continuing to try to push them into doing it her way and talking to her.
I understand she wants to know them. She just found out she was adopted
At any rate my real question is: she has cooled off so much I hardly ever hear from her. Not unless she wants some sort of info or I email her first. I am broken hearted but am trying to stay out of her way and frankly trying to keep from being crushed any more than I have been. It really hurts. I had been without her for 45 years and ofcourse I had the romantic idea that we would at the very least become friends.
I do not see that happening and I know I can't force her to want me in her life but I wish she would. Sooo why is this happening? Can any one help me understand?????
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Hi, I am in reunion with my mom for over 2 years now. I have met the family and for the most part it has gone well. I grew up knowing that I was adopted so I had over thrity years to get used to it. I can't imagine just finding out after over 40 years. How do you trust anyone after that? That is a really big secret. I had a very supportive spouse, brothers and sisters and friends who cheered me on the whole way. Even with all that support, I actually had what I call mini breakdowns, where I would cry till the mascara stained my husbands shirt. Just the overwhelming emotions of it all can knock you flat. This of course is from an adoptee view point. Under the best of circumstance. Although Amom was supportive at first but then withdrew support and actually called my bdad names, but that was her problem, not mine and I was unable and unwilling to take that on for her. As Jackie says above, it is not on you and reunion is so difficult. I went and had three different series of therapy for it all. In all I would bet over 25 hours with my therapist and I had what I think the best reunion as possible to date, with the exception of my amom and her issues. Good luck and let us know how it goes, I wish you and your daughter the best.