On Sunday I interviewed my parents about what they went through to adopt me. They shared how they were just beginning the adoption process when a mysterious phone call changed their lives forever.
Please feel free to leave questions or comments. We have already received a few and we will do our best to answer all of them!
If you are unable to see the video click here.
Yesterday, 12 years ago our family was reunited for the first time. It was an incredible experience and to celebrate we did an online video and chat. It was a lot of fun and it was great to hear everyone share their experiences.
For those of you who could not stay for the entire show, or were unable to join us, we recorded the whole thing. It is about 2 hours long but I bookmarked each section to make it easier for people to watch in parts.
We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback because we are thinking about doing it again.
This Sunday, December 20th it will be 12 years since our family was reunited. To celebrate we are inviting you to join us in a live video chat from Panama. Starting at 6:30pm we will be answering any questions you might have about the story or our experiences. This is a chance for you to meet some of the “characters” from my mother’s upcoming book.
You can join the conversation by going to http://www.anasmiracle.com/the-story/live or on our Facebook Page. You can RSVP here. Hope to see you there!
Last Wednesday my mother and I were at Wellesley College talking to a group of students. We were talking about the adoption story, her book and my experiences meeting my family.
They were a great group of students and we had a fun time talking with them.
Below is a video recording we did of the event. I did remember to press record this time. However, the audio quality is not great. You will have to turn up the volume, but you should be able to hear everything. The video is about an hour long. We talk for the first 45 minutes and answer questions for the remainder.
I have been looking into a mic and will be getting one soon. That should make future recordings much better.
If you can’t see the video above, click here.
As always we would love to hear from you. Question or comments are welcome on the website or Facebook page.
This is a reminder that Wednesday at 5pm my mother and I will be talking about the adoption story and our passions at Wellesley College. We are planning to broadcast live over the web. I hope you all can join us!
You can RSVP for the event here (even if you are joining us online).
Here is the link where you can watch!
If you can’t see the video above click here.
I’ve been asked this question a lot recently: “How do I talk to my adoptive parents about looking for my birth parents?”
Obviously this is a sensitive subject and I do my best to give advice based on my experiences. Keep in mind, I never had this talk with my parents. Even though I wasn’t proactive about this, at the time there are things I did that really helped.
1) Treat them the same – This is probably the easiest thing to do and the most imporant. I think that adoptive parents’ biggest fear is that they are going to lose you; that by finding your birth family, you are going to stop being part of their lives. Everyone who has asked me this question was really aware of this and didn’t want to hurt their adoptive parents. I think by doing the same things as you always do with your adoptive parents they can get over their fear and realize you aren’t going anywhere.
2) Include them – Some parents are more open about this than others, but the more they are a part of the search the easier it might be to deal with. I think a big part of my family getting over its fears was that they went with me and met this new family. As time went on, my adoptive parents got to know them more and it was a lot easier for them.
I also wanted to say something to the adoptive parents out there.
Try to understand this is not about you as parents. You are so important to your adopted child and they don’t want to hurt you. As an adoptee, looking for your birth parents is part of figuring out who you are as a person. I think it’s human nature to resolve unanswered questions, such as where did I come from?
Good luck with your search and if there is anything I can do, or if you have other questions, please feel free to contact me. dewittn@anasmiracle.com