When people hear the word adoption, they tend to think of a child and the parents who adopted him or her. Most people view adoption as being a positive thing, but the birth parents are often viewed with a very negative stereotype. Our society is often more accepting of a woman who has an abortion than a woman who places her child for adoption. There are negative images of the biological mother, a prominent one being in the negative terminology used: “she gave up her child for adoption” instead of the positive, “she placed her child for adoption.”
Kelly’s story is relatable to many. According to this article in The Federalist, growing up, Kelly knew and had a positive respect for adoption, but her image of birth mothers was very negative. She would wonder how someone could let go of a child after giving birth. Kelly stated, “I thought adoption was a wonderful thing, but I thought that birth mothers were heartless and evil … To be able to have a child, to walk nine months through a pregnancy, and to be able to walk away from that child, what type of person does that?” Although she had a sister who was adopted, she still thought birth mothers were heartless.
When Kelly was a freshman in college, she became pregnant. Now she had to decide on the future of her child. Tragically, over 900,000 children are aborted yearly while only around 18,000 are adopted. Kelly chose to be one of the 18,000 and place her biological son, Alex, for adoption. Alex is now a thriving and active 10-year-old growing up with a loving family. After his adoption, Kelly completed her degree and went on to get a master’s degree in counseling. Kelly sees Alex occasionally and they keep in touch through phone calls and texting.
Why is the view of birth mothers so skewed in our society? There is a consistent push or discussion about abortion, but little to none about adoption and the great gift these birth mothers are giving their biological children. Here are more birth mother stories. Let us remember the greatness and love given by birth mothers.
