HERE'S TO YOU ~ TOM ATWOOD

I have read recently that you think that we are attacking you and your group, the National Council for Adoption based on religion. I am here to say " Duh, no! I don't think so." It really irritates me that you think we attack you based on the organization's religious preferences.

Why we do attack you fiercely? You say you speak for natural mothers. Uhhhh No you don't. You don't have a clue. This is coming from your factbook III. It tells me that you don't support natural mothers period. They are the mere vessels in which you and your adoption agencies reap great financial rewards. This is an actual quote from that little "factbook." It is hard to believe that your group would ever say anything like this. It really shows how you feel about adoptees and their families. Shocking isn't it.

But what about my first mom?" Bobby says quickly. "What happened to her? She didn't want me? You mean, she didn't like me?" Bobby looks confused and maybe even a bit hurt-or maybe even a lot."Well, first of all," Bobby's mom says in a matter of fact tone, "that woman who gave birth to you never had a chance to know you, not the real you. You were just a baby. You couldn't talk. You didn't play, have any ideas, or even talk back. In fact you could have been any baby. It didn't matter because that woman had chosen not to be a mother and not to be a parent. So it wasn't that she didn't like you because she never took the time to get to know you."No," Bobby's mom replies in a matter-of-fact but non harsh manner. "She didn't love you. She chose not to be a parent and not to get to know you, and not to take care of you." If, later, Bobby should use the conventional expression "biological mother/father/parent" Bobby's mom will gently correct him and say "No, he/she chose not to be a parent, so you mean the 'biological stranger.'"

You teach adoptive parents to spew this crap, but turn around and say this crap to natural parents.

After working through their fears and conflicts, birthmothers choose adoption because they believe that it is best for their children. They realize that adoption is not abandonment; it is a loving, responsible act. By choosing what is best for their children, birthmothers see themselves as good mothers. Instead of feeling like bad mothers for abandoning children or “giving them away,” they now begin to see that placing their children with loving couples is what it means for them to be good mothers. They redeem themselves, transforming their mistakes into positive outcomes. Adoption allows them to recover their self-esteem, restore their identity, and renew their dreams and goals

So which is it? Are natural mothers good birthmothers or biological strangers who don't want their children? While you are it, why don't you give your answer to Michelle Edmund's question? "If adoption in itself holds potential to create citizens who are presumed to cause harm, then the government should explain why it has an adoption system! " I surely would like to know that answer.