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I am feeling very sad about my OA with my son's first mom. She is a great young woman and I care about her very much. but she doesn't answer my phone calls or e-mails. If it were about me, I wouldn't care. but my son is 5 and he really wants to see her, but she hasn't responded to his recent phone call. he is at the age where he is just beginning to understand that his birth mother is related to him and that she gave birth to him.
She is VERY busy starting a new business and I don't expect her to drop everything but it would be really nice if she responded to the message. I have a relationship with her mom and in the past her mom has gotten her to respond to me when we were planning a visit (like at Chistmas).
What is really striking to me is that when we started our OA I felt overwhelmed with the amount of contact and I needed some space. Well as they say, be careful of what you wish for. I know that I need to give her space and not push things. I realize that contact and visits must be difficult for her. but I just wish she would answer me instead of ignoring my messages.
I thought maybe some first moms could give some perspective. When I do see her (first mom) she is lovely to me and to our whole family. I don't know if the lack of contact is because the OA is tough or if she just isn't good at communcating with people. I did see someone on her Facebook page giving her a hard time about not responding to phone calls and messages, so it might not just be me, but I have no way of knowing.
By the way, this has been going on for over a year...it takes several messages to her before she responds. I am not badgering her or hounding her. We now only see eahc other a few times a year. The first year or 2 she contacted me frequently and we had visits as often as once a month.
Port,
I'm sorry you are going through this, I know the ebb and flow is tough, I experience it all the time in my OA and reunion, I think it is part of the nature of adoption communication.
OA is such a juxtaposition for first parents. We are supposed to move on and at the same time it feels like we are supposed to do everything with our placed child in mind, does that make sense?
Have you told her that her son is asking about her? The reason I say her son is because she may just need to be reminded that he needs her too.
It is so hard to be needed and not be needed at the same time. He doesn't need her for day to day things, but he does need her when it comes to that important identity stuff. She may not really realize that, or she may not be able to deal with it.
I don't feel like I am making much sense here. All I know is I get told to move on all the time, but then I feel stuck because I get reminded that I have to do everything with Kiddo in mind.
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Maybe this just is her habit... maybe she's a gal with a lot of irons in the fire, and/or a wide social circle, and usually it takes 2-3 messages for her to respond to people. In that sense, maybe it has nothing to do with you.
So if you wanted to see her in March, maybe you could start contacting her early February? But not take any delays personally.
With that said, grief ebbs and flows... I'm sure different times will be different for her in that regard.
Thanks for your replies. They are very helpful. I actually heard from her right after I wrote the post, and as usual she was upbeat and said she has just been really busy (which must be true, starting your own business at 23? She is amazing! And it opens in 2 weeks!)
OA is such a juxtaposition for first parents. We are supposed to move on and at the same time it feels like we are supposed to do everything with our placed child in mind, does that make sense?
Belle, I have often thought about how difficult the adoption paradox must be for first moms. And I imagine this is part of what must be happening for her.
Sometimes I feel like the biological mother is so inherently powerful that everything in adoption is done to diminish her. I have never wanted it to be that way for S and me. But no matter how I want to "equalize" us, it remains true that adoption paradox is still there.