Dear Dr. Laura,
My wife and I listened the other day to a caller who asked how she might feel towards an adopted baby - would she love it as "her own".
About 30 years ago, we adopted our first two daughters at birth, about 2 years apart. We both fell in love with each child immediately and we have never felt that they are anything other than our children. They have known since before they knew what the word meant that they are very special because they are adopted. They know it means we wanted them so much that we searched the world to find them. They now know the circumstances of their birth, and that their birth mothers loved them so much they did the most unselfish thing possible, they found a loving mother and a father who could provide for them and love them.
When our oldest was about 11 or 12, at dinner one night she blurted out "I could have been an abortion". I think it was then she fully realized the choices her birth mother had, and we are all grateful their birth mothers opted for life.
When our second adopted daughter was about 1 year old, my wife unexpectedly became pregnant. Our youngest daughter was born, and we know that whether adopted or birthed, we immediately loved each of our children, and not one more than the other.
One of our daughters got pregnant when she was young and unmarried. She made the unselfish and difficult decision to have the baby and to give it up for adoption. She said she wanted her baby to have what she had, both a mother and a father who could love and care for him/her. Although it would have been our preference that she waited until marriage to become pregnant, we were happy she chose to not have an abortion and to give the baby life.
Thank you for often bringing this important issue up in your program. We hope and pray that many more women will opt for adoption rather than abortion, as it provides many benefits to all involved.
Tom
