A plea from my heart
UPDATE….a HUGE thanks to the over 300 of you who took the time to visit my little site too read about the plight of the Manchester Adoption Society. Raising awareness of the work of such organisations is just as important as raising money to save them. So a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you. If you have yet to sign the petition, the link is here: – http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveMAS/
I’m adopted.
Its’ something I have always known, in fact I still have the book “I am adopted” that my mum gave me when I learnt to read. I produced it recently. It made my mum cry.
Adoption used to carry this big stigma with it, before Madonna and Angelina got in on the act and started to adopt their rainbow babies. My adopted grandma was incensed when my parents told her they were going to adopt me. Bringing a council estate kid into their perfect middle class world. That despite their upbringing, their values, every bit of love and care and attention that they could give me, that it wouldn’t work, that I would always be a product of where I came from.
Prejudice was still alive in the 1970s. I really want to believe it isn’t still around today.
Before them it was just children like me, mistakes, accidents, children that whilst loved, shouldn’t really have been.
Born.
But I was and of course i’m thankful for this. But I’m more thankful that I found a family that needed me, wanted me, that could look after me and bring me up with all that I had.
And I had a lot. A lot of love, a lot of dreams, a lot of hope.
Things that that my real mum had for me, but wanted someone else to be able to give to me.
Because for whatever reason she couldn’t.
Babies are born all the time into circumstances beyond their mother’s control. Babies that need help to find a family, to find a home.
Mother’s need somewhere help them, to provide them with the support to do the one thing, that as women we would never dream of happening to us. To give up a part of ourselves to someone in the hope that there is something more out there for them.
Families like mine, need hope that one day a child will be theirs. That they can hold a child in their arms and through all the pain know that child will look back at them and call them mum, dad, when they are able to speak.
Without help, this couldn’t happen.
I was adopted 31 years ago through the Manchester Adoption Society.
Without them i wouldn’t have the life i have had, the hope, the dreams, the real love.
Sadly, next month, the Society is to close. The society depends on voluntary contributions, the kind my family has been making for the last 31 years, as have many others. These financial contributions in these tough times are no longer enough to compensate for the distorted inter-agency fees which are deterring local authorities from using voluntary organisations to place children.
A campaign has been set up to save the Manchester Adoption Society and protect of the future of all the children that need their help.
How you can help… JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN
Register your support and complete the on-line petition at
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveMAS/
Join the Facebook site: Save Manchester Adoption Society
(http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=198235743506&ref=nf)
DONATE or PLEDGE: You can donate OR pledge funds to help raise the £250,000 required to maintain the MAS services for the next 12 months and beyond.
Donations to: http://www.justgiving.com/manchesteradoption
Cheque payable to Manchester Adoption Society and send to: MAS 47 Bury New Road, Sedgley Park, Prestwich, Manchester M25 9JY
Pledges info@manchesteradoption.com
You can read more about this at
http://www.manchesteradoption.com/
Thanks for reading and lets hope that we can help other children like me.
If anyone would like to Retweet this, re post it on their own blog – it would be much appreciated.
OK, I’m in.
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smidge Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
Thank you xx
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I have such mixed feelings about adoption. My dad’s adopted, my aunt gave up a baby, it certainly GREATLY affected each of their lives. My dad searched for and found his birth family. Some of whom accepted him and we still have relationships with today. His mother didn’t. She died. Bitch. My aunt suffered from depression and insomnia for the rest of her life. She spent the first months of his life trying to get him back, unsuccessfully. She spent the rest of her life fighting for birth parents’ rights. There’s no one right answer that works for everyone. But in general, I think the option has to be there. I also think parents being honest with their children from the beginning is really important.
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smidge Reply:
January 9th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I’m really sorry to hear about this, my experience has only been good, but then i’ve never searched for my real mum so haven’t experienced the pain and rejection that could come with it. I think birth parents do have a right to see their children. Groups like MAS are out there to help birth parents contact their children and this is one of the reasons it would be awful if they were to close. Kx
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também gostei muito. nice blog.
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This is such a touching post and I’m glad I’ve found ou just now, to read it
Nice to meet you!
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smidge Reply:
January 11th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Why thank you very much (and welcome!) xx
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I think it’s lovely that you are doing this! I’ve just “signed” the petition – I hope it makes a difference,
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smidge Reply:
January 11th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Thanks Paula, you are a star x
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It’s not often you really get to hear about adoption, specifically from the adopted child’s point of view, so bravo for that and for sticking up for something that has so deeply impacted you. I hope for the best for the society.
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