This guest post is by An Adoptive Mother Who Is No Longer Waiting.
When I tell people we’re adopting, the reactions are varied.
Some people comment,
“that’s great!” and behind
the smile in their eyes
I see them wonder…
Is it I or my husband
who’s the weak link
in the fertility chain
And we wait…
Some people comment,
“how wonderful –
I’ve heard of people getting pregnant
when they adopt.”
They don’t realize for us
adopting is not a fertility treatment,
but a choice we’ve made.
And we wait…
Some people ask about the process,
“how do you decide?”
They don’t know about ticking the boxes –
boy – tick, girl- tick, siblings – tick,
blind – tick, deaf – tick,
ethnicities, religions, diseases,
exposure to alcohol and drugs,
the list goes on and on…
And we wait…
They don’t know that
in many cases
we don’t decide at all
a pregnant mother picks us
from a stack of families,
piled up high with images of imagined homes –
These people have cats,
They like to camp, they’re fun.
And we wait…
Some people ask,
“does it take a long time?”
They don’t realize we have to
put boxes around the places
in our hearts reserved
for families under construction,
for children in a forever home
And we wait…
They don’t know about
thinking about the future
without really thinking
about the future
so hopes stay floating
and the edges of the picture
in your head stay fuzzy
because it hurts less that way.
And we wait…
They don’t know that
information and approvals
come in fits and starts, hot then cold, and
a month will go by where
we live our lives as usual
wondering when usual will change.
And we wait…
We wait for a match,
for all the ticky boxes to align
for transitions and attachment,
for time alone together,
for a family,
And we wait…
— An Adoptive Mother Who Is No Longer Waiting.
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