Dear Christine,
I am 19 years old and have recently found out that I am adopted.
My parents shielded me from this fact because they felt it was a way of protecting me from being teased as a child.
They also told me they did not have the heart to tell me about my adoption before.
Christine, I am planning to get married within another year, and so they felt the time was right to tell me the truth.
I love my parents at lot. They raised me to be a wonderful young woman, brought me up in the church and gave me the love and care I needed.
My letter therefore is not aimed at telling you how many regrets I have and to complain about the fact that they took so long to tell me the truth.
Rather, I want to tell other people who have been adopted that their adoptive parents must have had a deep love for them to allow them to be a part of their lives.
I want to encourage them not to detest their adoptive parents in any way if they failed to reveal the truth from the beginning.
Of course I wonder who my real parents are. Of course I wonder why they put me up for adoption.
Of course I wonder if they love me and whether I have other brothers and sisters.
I wonder if their lives are as fulfilling as mine.
I know however, Christine, that I cannot look back at the past. It would be great to know who my real parents are, but for now I love the parents who took me into their lives when I was a few months old and brought me to this country.
I am writing this open letter to them also, so they will know that I love them with all my heart and thank them immensely for all they have done for me.
– Shanica B.
Dear Shanica B,
Your display of maturity is very much admired. I trust that your letter will help individuals in similar situations to yours to cope with the fact that they were adopted.
Your approach tells me that you truly understand that not everyone who gives birth is necessarily a mother and that those who raise children, love and cherish them are often the true parents.
I also take this time to wish you a happy and successful marriage.
– CHRISTINE
