During my weeklong stay at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver, I had the opportunity to talk with several people about adoption. When people learned that we have an (extremely) open adoption with our sons’ birth families, they asked the following questions:
Q: Do your sons know their birth parents?
A: Yes. Their birth parents have been an active part of their lives since they were 2 years old and since birth, repectively.
Q: Do they know that their birth parents placed them for adoption?
A: Yes. They call their birth parents by their first names, but they have always known that they are their biological parents.
Q: How do your sons feel about having their birth parents involved in their lives?
A: I think they like it, but I’ll ask them when I get home.
So…I asked my almost 13-year-old, "How do you feel about Jen being part of your life?"
He pondered for a moment (keep in mind that his birth mom has been an integral part of his life for as long as he can remember, so her presence seems totally normal to him). Then his face brightened and he said, "I like it; it means double the presents!"
Speaking of presents, my husband and I are debating what to get for our boy, who is suddenly on the brink of teenagedom. We were discussing "the gift thing" with our son on the way to church yesterday, and I told him that in addition to the present he receives from us, I’ll take him shopping for school clothes in late August (have to wait as long as possible because he may grow two sizes by then!). He rolled his eyes in typical tweenager style and sighed, "Mom, that’s Jen’s job!"