A Cry From the Heart

THE Awake! of May 8, 1996, carried a series of articles on the subject of adoption. We have been pleasantly surprised to see the reader response that we received from all over the world. The following letter was especially touching.

“I feel compelled to point out that many of us who gave up our children really wanted to keep them. I was an unmarried teenager, still in school. As soon as my parents learned that I was pregnant, they informed me that I should put the welfare of the child before my own and give it up for adoption. I was told that ‘a baby needs both a mother and a father,’ which I could not provide. My parents did not want me to keep the baby—there was no place in their home for me if I had a baby. What could I do? They argued: ‘You will resent your baby for taking away your freedom.’

“As soon as my pregnancy began to show, I was taken out of school and sent away to live with a relative. When I left home, I knew that I would not be welcome there until my pregnancy was over and I had given up the baby.

“I was sent to a home for unwed mothers. When the social worker asked me if I was sure of my decision to give the baby up for adoption, I knew that she didn’t realize that I had no other choice. I WANTED TO KEEP MY BABY! I have always longed to see him laughing and happy. Your readers need to know that many birth mothers feel as I did.

“I was not given any real option. So I did what I was told was in the ‘best interests’ of the child. And I have lived with a deep wound ever since. I worry that my son might think that I never cared and that I did not want him.

“Now, as a Christian, I always appreciate the Bible’s counsel on the more difficult situations that we bring upon ourselves because of not applying God’s Word in our lives. It shows the painful and far-reaching effects of worldly reasoning. But adopted people need to know that just because they were given up for adoption, it does not mean that they were not wanted. Please let them know!”