Can "Voluntary" Relinquishment Occur without Coercion?

The more I think of it, the more I've come to realize that, at least in your "normal" agency adoption, coercion is a necessary element of adoption. In order to get a women to surrender her child, you first have to convince her that she would make such a terrible mother, that her child would have such a miserable life with her, that she can best serve her child by rolling the dice and sending her home with total strangers. You have to convince her that she is such a threat to her child, that she will be making the best parenting decision by giving up her right to protect her child from harm, to make sure her child is always happy and safe.

Does this seem like the conclusion that any woman can come to with an ounce of self esteem? Does it sound like a decision that can be arrived at on one's own accord? No. This requires brainwashing. It requires demolishing any self esteem. It requires preying upon weaknesses. 

And then, we wonder why it is so impossible for mothers to carry on with their lives, missing their flesh and blood child, and convinced that they are worthless. 

It still keeps me up at night

I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I'm 16 again, just a couple months pregnant. I remember the evening I told my dad that I was keeping the baby. I had written out a letter to myself that has long since disappeared. The letter said pretty much everything we tell girls now. Adopters can lose jobs, get divorced, etc. And I will finish school and we will be fine. I told my father I was going to raise my baby. It should have been the last time adoption was ever mentioned. Instead, he said "so you mean I'm going to raise the baby."

I had an uncle willing to take me in. He can't do much, he told me, but he could offer a roof and food. Suddenly my father was open to the idea of keeping my daughter.

Until all of a sudden, he told me I better start looking into TANF and section 8. Because I wasn't coming home with that baby.

I remember worrying about whether my dad would ever see his grandbaby in my daughter, whether he would ever look at her and not see Daniel, and the months of lies that led to me getting pregnant. He said he didn't know either.

So, reluctantly, I picked up the phone book and dialed the first number I saw under adoption. I wasn't going to go through with it. I was just going to humor him.

Next thing I know, I have an appointment with an adoption "counselor " at my house. Then, I'm matched. Marine father. Sah mother. Living in Japan.

I convinced myself that this was what I wanted. I convinced myself that this was what God wanted. I actually remember saying to myself at one point "A stupid 16 year old girl needs a lesson. A couple on the other side of tthe world prays for a baby. Funny how the world works."

I want to go tell that girl "no. That's not how it works."

My dad was working when I had her. I was in the hospital a whopping 12 hours after her birth. I know if he'd have seen her, he would have told me not to go through with it. He would have told those people to get lost. I would still have my little girl.

But thats not what happened. Adad drove me home from the hospital. I walked into my house, stuffed bear under my arm. They went home with my baby. And it still keeps me up at night 5 years later.

That moment you realize that you are "okay"

Things have been going pretty decent for me the past few weeks. I've been working (somewhat) steady. I've graduated. I'm 5 weeks away from moving across the country to finish my Bachelor's Degree. I will for the first time in my life have my own apartment. No roommates. No parents. Just me and my dog. I've been so focused on the upcoming move, that I haven't really had time to feel bad about the adoption.

Until of course, I realize that I've been pretty "okay" lately. That's when it has to hit me, and start dragging me down again. Kind of like having a headache, that comes back the second you realize that it's been gone. How could I possibly be okay? Why do I have to beat myself up for feeling this way? Why can't I just be happy? I mean, I am happy. But life is moving forward. Again. And I'm about to be alone. Again.

I just wish that I could put adoption in my rear view mirror once and for all. I want it to be a thing of my past, and I want to move forward in my life without having this lurking in the corners, ready to pull me into its grip whenever it sees fit.

But that is, of course, an awful thought to have. Forgetting about adoption, putting adoption in my past, even wanting to, is to deny my daughter, my only child. Adoption will always be a part of my life. As long as she is living, growing, exploring, I will always have a daughter that I lost. The story wasn't over when I handed her over to the people she calls mom and dad. Not for her. Not for them. And not for me. It never will be. But maybe, just maybe, I can keep the monster at bay.