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This statement bothers me. "The pressure put on adoptees to be grateful is nothing short of prejudice. It's treating us like second class citizens, it's degrading." honestly, I think all kids should be grateful if they ended up with good parents. I know that I thank God every day I had the parents I had. And for adopted children, they are lucky if both sets of parents are decent and love them. They should be appreciative. I thank God every day I have the pleasure of raising my children.They are the greatest gift I was given. They are my joy. And sure, us adoptive parents are "lucky" to have great kids but so are people who have biological children. They are lucky they can have children and love them. I dont look at gratefulness as a burden whether you are the child or the parent. My children are fortunate they didnt stay in foster care. They have parents right now who are very messed up and dangerous. They are lucky to have gotten out and not been raised in the system. I am grateful to have been given the oppt to raise them.
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latinosunshine
This statement bothers me. "The pressure put on adoptees to be grateful is nothing short of prejudice. It's treating us like second class citizens, it's degrading." honestly, I think all kids should be grateful if they ended up with good parents. I know that I thank God every day I had the parents I had. And for adopted children, they are lucky if both sets of parents are decent and love them. They should be appreciative. I thank God every day I have the pleasure of raising my children.They are the greatest gift I was given. They are my joy. And sure, us adoptive parents are "lucky" to have great kids but so are people who have biological children. They are lucky they can have children and love them. I dont look at gratefulness as a burden whether you are the child or the parent. My children are fortunate they didnt stay in foster care. They have parents right now who are very messed up and dangerous. They are lucky to have gotten out and not been raised in the system. I am grateful to have been given the oppt to raise them.
I think that part of the confusion here is that the English language uses the word "gratitude" when we actually mean two different things - "appreciation" versus "indebtedness."Of course, all children should be appreciative of their parents, and of kindnesses that are done for them. A person who isn't taught to be appreciative during childhood will grow up to be a miserable, entitled adult.That said, the other meaning, indebtedness, is destructive. People should never be made to feel that they owe their parents, or that being cared for appropriately isn't just their basic right, or that they don't deserve the love they're receiving.It's important to encourage any child (adopted or not) to be appreciative. The problem is that for adoptees, often a line is crossed into expectations of indebtedness, and that's unfair and damaging. It's not that being adopted means a person should never be grateful for anything their parents do - it's that not all meanings of gratitude are good things.
missmiso
Also, it makes me cringe when people talk about how amazing adoptive parents are for adopting. We all know why it happens. The adoptive parents are the lucky ones, all parents are! I mean really. We have kids because we want them. Nobody does the world a favour by giving birth or adopting.
The pressure put on adoptees to be grateful is nothing short of prejudice. It's treating us like second class citizens, it's degrading. The pressure put on children to be grateful is nothing short of prejudice. It's treating us like second class citizens, it's degrading. It's a different thing.:3d:
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As an adopted person I am thankful that I have been able to maintain some level of sanity despite being pulled from my clan. I am thankful that I have my daughter who I would never dream of putting through what I have been through. I have been an outsider looking in at life through bullet proof glass because I knew I was not part of the family who raised me. I am not grateful for what I have been put through. I am thankful I made it through it. I do not believe any child should be obliged to be grateful at all for what every child should have in this cold world....Their rightful place with people who love them.
ruth74
I also find the "bloodlines" thing ridiculous. Most people have something in their bloodline that isn't what they think it is. Maybe suggesting they all get comprehensive genetic testing to ensure that nobody cheated anywhere along the way, since clearly we can't trust that people we don't know 100% are who they claim to be biologically can be fully included. Of course, my family looks less at blood and more at names (many of our "heirlooms" are earmarked for the next person with that name, and my son is one of those to whom certain things are destined to go), so maybe I just don't get it.
Originally Posted by ruth74I also find the "bloodlines" thing ridiculous. Most people have something in their bloodline that isn't what they think it is. Maybe suggesting they all get comprehensive genetic testing to ensure that nobody cheated anywhere along the way, since clearly we can't trust that people we don't know 100% are who they claim to be biologically can be fully included. Of course, my family looks less at blood and more at names (many of our "heirlooms" are earmarked for the next person with that name, and my son is one of those to whom certain things are destined to go), so maybe I just don't get it.
BethVA62
The bloodlines and the name thing are both ridiculous in some ways and important in some ways, to some. The name thing gets on my nerves too LOL since it's typically a man only thing. I have two brothers (aparents bio sons), one has two daughters, one has a son and a daughter, I have a son and a daughter. So if we stick with the name thing, that leaves only one to carry on my father's family name... so all but one are left out! It all screams possessive paternal to me. I think it would work better maternally, lets change it LOL We are usually pretty certain the mother is the mother, usually. But secrets and altered birth records can bogus that up... I'd love to talk about it all and record it all factually together, along with DNA results! somehow, somewhere, haven't found that genealogical program yet! One day, it's the only true way to show "Family Links" :) As far as inheriting heirlooms, I think it's an individual thing, not always relating to blood or names. It's the connection one has with the person and the object to be given, sometimes. If my sister in-law thinks she is really getting (and she did/does) MY grandmother's crystal, silver and china, stuff that I grew up with, to give to her daughters who carry the family name and blood, who never even knew my grandma, she's out of luck. My daughter and I knew her well, and miss her greatly.Besides, Mom already sent it to me LOLSIL can go get her own mother's mother's stuff to give to her daughter's.:rolleyes:
Dickons
I personally feel that if the concept of family and family lines stops being important - then a part of humanity dies with it. I dislike the dissing of family lines connected by blood that is seen so widely in the adoption community - there isn't a need to denigrate something so very special just because adoption and adoptive families exist. Both types of family should be able to stand proud on their own merits - not have to take something away from the other - just to make themselves feel better.
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Thanks Beth, I was just on facebook and my cousin on my dad's side, had just posted a picture of him and his son - spitting images. I pulled up one of the pictures I have of dad and man it is scary and that is uncle to great nephew to great/great nephew. To me that is comforting - and while I don't agree with my cuz lots of times I see his personality mirrors dad in so many ways (and was also the personality of dad's nephew) - it's comforting to know all the good in that line is still around. D
Dickons
I have pictures as far back as pictures go and on my dad's side the connection is without doubt - farther back the physical descriptions provided are proof enough to me to confirm true. Perhaps why I love doing that tree more than the rest - the striking similarities - both physical and in how each lived their life and actions taken are amazing - also because that family line is noted in books from the time they first came to this country. Heirlooms - I feel entitled to them, but because the line ends with me, they will and are noted in my will to go to specific ancestors of dad's silbings that I believe would appreciate the value of the connection - wouldn't be right to go to someone unrelated. Not sure even if I had a child to leave them to, that I would leave it to them - I don't think the personal items dad's ancestors touched and used should leave that line.
missmiso
My adoptive parents don't get why it hurts so much. I think secretly they like it, feeds their ego. It hurts when I am talking about losing my bmother and someone says 'but you have nice adoptive parents!' as if that makes it all better. It's a slap in the face. My adoptive father and I were arguing about this, and he did his usual 'people mean well' crap. I asked him how he would like it if after his mother died, and his father remarried, if when he tried to express his grief over his mother people reminded him how wonderful his step mother was. I felt like **** for going below the belt, but I wanted him to feel what I feel and be more understanding. He doesn't see my bmother as my mother, whereas I do.
I'd feel sad if Sweetpea didn't feel entitled to inherit anything my nieces and nephews would inherit. Thank goodness I know my parents well enough to know they would never make a distinction between adopted vs. bio grandchildren. I'm not dissing blood relationships (I expect Sweetpea to want to know about her biological heritage someday). I just feel that she's just as much a member of our family as her cousins are. There shouldn't be anything that could go to them that couldn't go to her. .
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