| Colton Larsen is an adopted child who brings much happiness to his family. |
In celebration of National Adoption Awareness Month there will be a series of personal stories about adoption appearing in the Emery County Progress during the month of November.
Each of these stories has been shared by individuals whose lives have been touched by adoption�a birth parent who placed a child for adoption, a birth grandparent whose daughter placed a child for adoption, an adult adoptee, and a couple who recently received a child by adoption. These perspectives of adoption represent many other people whose lives have been influenced by adoption.
Dear Editor,
It has recently come to my attention that November is National Adoption month. It has given me cause to reflect on my own experience with adoption.
I was a teenage girl 16 years ago with a life changing decision to make. Do I keep my baby, and try to raise him, or do I give him up for adoption to a loving two parent home?
Either decision was going to be hard for me and my family. I loved the baby growing inside of me, but was I really ready to become a mom? After a lot of counsel and sound advice, I loved my baby enough to let him go, and be raised in a two parent home that was yearning for a chance at parenthood. Even though giving him up was the hardest thing I hope I ever have to do in this lifetime, my life since has been filled with peace and joy knowing that I’ve given him the life he deserved to have, and that I made a responsible decision.
Living with, and learning from life’s mistakes is hard. Even though I think about the child I gave up often, and wonder who he looks like, and what his personality is like, I have never once, for a second, regretted my decision to give him a better life with a wonderful loving couple.
I have since married a great guy, and have four beautiful children of my own. As I look into each of their eyes, and feel the most complete kind of love, I am happy I was able to give that experience to another woman yearning to be a mother.