What wonderful posts and how differently we look at adoption!
For me, I struggle with the thought of giving a person away to someone you do not know. That the shame of being related to a bastard child is such that it is still, to this day, often preferable to give the helpless child away. or even sell them.
I have spent most of my life wishing that abortion had been legal when I was born. I have softened on this stance, but still hate the idea of being given away, so that my biological grandparents would not have to be embarrassed by my existence.
When people say I should be thankful, I want to throw up. My childhood was super hard. When I met my bio parents I was devastated that no one was one little bit sorry about any of it.
Is adopting children better then leaving them in an orphanage? I guess so? I think it depends on circumstances.
I have grown closer with my adopted cousins and sister as I have aged and consider them my family. The Ancestry.com thing continues to kind of hurt, because I really can't dig back without outing myself to people who would not even look at me when I met them years ago. The child of shame, the bastard.