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So this is my story of searching for my birth family. I hope I'm posting this in the right forum. :o
In the summer of 2011 I initiated a search for my birth family through the adoption agency through which I was adopted. It began really slow at first due to my state's law requiring adoptees being required to have their adoptive parents sign a consent form in order to initiate a search for their biological family. Since my adoptive mother is deceased and I have little to no contact with my adoptive father, I thought I was SOL.
In August, Missouri passed a bill that allows adult adoptees to receive identifying information regarding their biological family without the consent of their adoptive parents. Once that bill passed, things developed a little bit faster. Still slower than I would have liked, though.
I first received some non-identifying information about my bio-mother regarding her height, approximate age, and some medical history. That just wasn't enough for me, though. After 29 years, I needed more information. So I wrote a letter to the family courts in September requesting more information and was told that they would have to get in contact with my biological parents to have them release their identifying information to me.
After this letter was sent, I was notified that my bio-mother had passed away around 16 years prior. To be honest, I was kind of crushed. Though, had it been more recently, there's no telling how devastated I would have been. Because my bio-mom has passed, I would need the authorization of my bio-father to release the identifying information.
Around the time the bill passed in August, I also received a birthday card from my biological moms sister since this was right around my birthday. Ever since my biological mother had passed, one of her sisters had been trying like hell to find me because she promised my bio-mom that she would find me. She had been sending birthday and Christmas cards to me every year, but I hadҒnt received any of them. I can understand why, so Im not upset about that.
Fast forward to this past Wednesday, I received the letter from the family courts that contained the identifying information about my bio-mother and father. Since my bio-mother had passed away, they also included the name and number for her sister that had been looking for me. I sat on the information for a day thinking about what I would say when I finally called.
The next night I called my bio-aunt and we talked for almost half an hour. Before we hung up, we made the decision to meet up the next day. We decided to meet in the lobby of the hospital where I was born. That is where we had last seen each other more than 29 years ago and it was the first place we saw each other since then. I met two of my bio-aunts there and we sat and talked for a while before they called two more of their sisters to meet us at a restaurant so we could all meet and have dinner together. So we all met up, had dinner, and talked all about our families, my life since being adopted, and about my bio-mother. It was a really, really great time.
IҒm looking forward to meeting the rest of my bio-family soon. But how much should I reasonably expect to be a part of each others lives now that we have been reunited? I donҒt really expect to be a part of every family gathering, but I would like to be there for some, if not most. I just dont want to force myself into their family and make it an awkward situation.
I have yet to contact the man who they say is my bio-father. IҒm not 100% convinced it is the right man and would like to have a paternity test done before we get too far into the relationship.
Since begininng this process, I have kept this from most of my adoptive family except for my sister who was adopted from a different family. She has been supportive of me through this process and I am grateful for that. Now its time to tell the rest of my adoptive family. I asked my Grandma and two aunts, who are my adoptive motherҒs sisters, to meet with me tomorrow to discuss this. They have all been like a mother to me in some capacity since my adoptive mother passed away almost 12 years ago. I dont want them to feel like IҒm trying to replace or hurt them. Im sure theyҒll understand, but Im still a little nervous about the situation.
That is really all I have for now. IҒll update this thread and answer any questions you may have when there is something to update about or questions to answer.
/novel
Maybe the best answer to your question of how much to reasonably expect to be a part of each others lives now that we have been reunited is no answer. I don't know of anyone who has ever come up with a script for how reunions work, how people will react after 29 years...or 49. I'm pretty sure that this isn't the kind of response you were hoping for, but I suspect the best thing is to take your cues from your birth family. Don't expect to be at every gathering, or half, or 3/4 of them. As long as you continue to experience the positive feelings when you are with them, that's the important part.
I'm sorry that you weren't able to reunite with your bmom. It sounds as if she would have been very willing to reunite with you.
Best,
PADJ
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Thanks PADJ :) That makes sense about taking cues from my birth family. I just don't want them to think that they would be overwhelming me and have them back off more than they would like to thinking it would benefit me when that isn't what I want. Do you know what I mean? I guess I'll just have to play it by ear and see how it develops. I appreciate your input. :D
Yes, I do know what you mean. Your post reminded me of maybe the single smartest thing my b-mom did during our early conversations. I doubt she knew it was so profound, but in the course of relating all the information that tends to come out in a rush she said "I don't know how much you want to know or not, and I don't want to overwhelm you." The reason it was so profound is it created the perfect opportunity for me to tell her exactly what was important to me and what was not.
I would suggest that you make your own "profound" moment. It can be something as simple as you telling your birth family "after all these years, I really would like to hear everything...don't worry about overloading me." That assumes that's how you feel, but it's an example. Not to mention of course that the more information you ask for from them, the more likely they may be to involve you in the family happenings. Hope it all works out well! Keep us posted!
Best,
PADJ
Well, it has been almost seven months since I reunited with my bio-family and things have been going swimmingly. They have been everything I wanted and more. It has been a really great experience for me.
I have since met my entire bio-family and have been to many family gatherings. Everything from Easter, Father's Day, birthdays, graduations, little occasions, and even an MLB game with a couple Aunts, an Uncle, my Grandparents, and a couple cousins where one of my cousins was performing with her dance group before the game. They're making me feel very loved and included, which is all I really wanted.
I had a sit-down meeting with a couple of my adoptive Aunts and my Grandma, as I mentioned in my initial post, and they were very supportive. They knew that I felt something was missing from my life and are very happy that I can now begin filling that void. This past weekend I told some of my closest friends finally and they were also very happy and supportive of the whole thing.
This weekend I am planning to introduce both families to each other at a celebration for my 30th birthday, a few other August birthdays, and my bio-grandparents wedding anniversary. I am so excited about this I can't even describe it. My two worlds are finally going to meet :woohoo:
Also, I don't know if I mentioned it in my initial post, but I am getting married in October which is what really pushed me to finally search for my bio-family. Anyway, I invited all of them and a lot of them are going to come. I'm sure that if the wedding wasn't 700+ miles from where we all are, almost all would come. Their response has been overwhelming on that front.
I just wanted to give an update to everybody here and hopefully provide some inspiration to others. Thanks for reading.
:happydance:
Congratulations on your continued great experience of your reunion. It is so exciting when things just seem to fall into place. I am sorry to hear that your bmom is not around to see the bonding of your reunion. I have enjoyed reading your updates.
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