i'm happy to see here that a lot of you have adopted or are considering it, and it doesn't matter where your child comes from. it's a noble thing for sure. my parents never hid the fact from me, they told me as soon as they figured i could understand that i was "special."
two events stick in my mind. first, a little girl next door was taunting me, we were about 5 or six (over 60 years ago and i still remember) with typical shit....you're adopted, you're adopted....like it was something wrong. since i knew anyway i wasn't sure why she thought it might bother me. my mom overheard this and gave me the your special talk, you were wanted and chosen. years later, when my mom was dying, she was in a coma. her hands were curled into fists and the nurses would put rolled up gauze into her hands to prevent a more serious deformity. i sat at her bedside in the hospital, i took the gauze out of one hand and replaced it with my index finger. my way of holding her hand. this day i was telling her how i thought she was a great mom to me and how glad i was they picked me. i know she heard me, her hand tightened around my finger, squeezing it and letting go. then i asked if she remembered the little bitch next door, cathy, and how she use to torment me on being adopted. my moms hand started squeezing my finger like crazy. a last little sign of life but in my mind she understood. lol
and the second remembrance if you'll indulge me, concerns my dad. he was 80, very ill and in the hospital. he couldn't even raise himself out of bed, dying of emphysema and copd. he was ashen and gray. i came in after work and sat down, he raised himself up so he was sitting up, i swear the color came back to his face, and he said to the guy next to him in the loudest voice i'd heard in months, "this is my son." i could hear the pride in his voice. the tone of his voice i remember so well. when i left, i kissed him on the forehead, and it was the last time i saw him alive. that's a memory i'll remember until i go to the grave.
the point, there's such a bond between adoptive parents and their kid(s). i really think it may be stronger than that of parents and their natural children. it's really cool to know 2 people jumped thru hoops to get you. i know i was never taken for granted.
so sorry for the long post.