Introduction

 

The subject of adoption conjures up many images — some positive and some negative. With approximately five million adoptees in America today, adoption has become mainstream. However, there remains a certain stigma about adoption. My question is, why?

 

The family I grew up in was not a typical family, in size or makeup. There were six of us kids in all. Someone once told us we represented all the colors of the rainbow — our own rainbow coalition of sorts. My parents had two biological and four adopted children, but in our family, that meant my parents had six kids of their own.

 

Within our family we came pretty close to representing all the major continents. I have brothers and sisters who are European American, Native American, Asian American, and African American. We also made a run at covering the Gospels; we have a Matthew, Mark, and Luke in our family. I believe that at one time we started calling our cat John, but it didn’t take. Regarding adoption, in our family we were all-in.

 

As I think about how adoption is viewed today, I often shake my head. Adoption is joked about and even used as a punch line when someone does something strange or out of the ordinary (“Oh, they must be adopted.”). I believe we need a fundamental change in how people think about adoption, in how adults who have been adopted feel about themselves, and in how we explain to children what being adopted means. Although I am not a doctor or a counselor, I feel I have a unique perspective on adoption. After all, I’ve been adopted twice.

 

ISBN-13: 978-1480151291 

ISBN-10: 1480151297