Obviously I don't think any of you really would but I found out today that someone I met a few months ago was given up for adoption when he was 6 yrs old and his mother kept his 2 yr old sister.
They are reuniting for the holiday b/c she found him on Facebook and the only excuse she gave him was that she didn't have the time to work full time and cart him around to school...huh?
His father walked out when he was 2. The mother has since gotten married and they have another son.
I was almost in tears. I can't even imagine ever having my kids for 6 yrs and then just giving them away and never seeing them again. I've had bad days but come on!!!
He's not expecting much out of this visit and actually has plans with a friend if he needs to bail. He told me that his parents (the ones who raised him) are really great people and raised him well.
Re: Could you give your 6 yr old away?
My heart breaks for him! She must have been mentally ill to do such a terrible thing. Not an excuse but since he had wonderful people who raised him it sounds like he got the better end of the deal that those poor, unfortunate, children she kept. I may have oversimplified and I'm sure he has residual issues because of what happened to him. I'm glad he is going into the situation with his eyes open and with low expectations. Poor guy. I hope he isn't hurt again by his 'mother'.
That's so sad, I just can't imagine ever making a decision like that.
I'm worried about him getting hurt again too. I hope that he finds what he is looking for.
Have you ever seen The Locator? I've seen situations like this on there, and I just cannot even fathom it. Forty, fifty, sixty years ago, I can kind of understand it. A woman's husband leaves her, her family has disowned her for getting pregnant as a teenager, and there is absolutely no way she can continue to support her child. Back in those days, women did not always work and they certainly did not have the resources we have now.
I really do belive there could be situations back then where it was the best thing for the child, but there are a lot of selfish people out there, too.
I had seen one where the mom left her three daughters with their dad for the weekend and never came back. Just disappeared. Her husband had been severly abusive to her, and she couldn't take it anymore. He beat the crap out of all three of those girls their whole lives until they were old enough to leave. When The Locator found her, she had a whole new life with a husband and kids and they had no idea her three daughters even existed. She did not want to see them. How absolutely awful.
Wow. As a mother, I can't even wrap my mind around that.
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hmmm. I was just wondering if anyone would be interested in a free 3.75 year old...?
maybe a piercingly shrill 23 month old?
just kidding- no I can NOT imagine ever parting with them...I imagine she had a lot going on mentally to be able to, but it sounds like he won in the end with a stable and loving upbringing?
poor guy.
My best friend while I was growing up was adopted and her mother gave her up at 3. She didn't remember her parents at all and as a kid I didn't think too much about it, but now as a mother I can't imagine a parent giving up a three year old.
DH has a similar story. He was a little younger, about 2, and his mother told his father to choose between them. FIL chose DH, obviously. Apparently DH has 2 older half-siblings that also live with their dad for the same reason. Obviously DH's mother had issues. She has lived within 5 miles of him his entire life (he's 42) and they have no relationship.
I just don't get it.