Dear Carolyn: My husband and I are “bidding” for a closed adoption through our church. The birth mother is 17 and already has a child. She is considering us as well as one other couple. This process involves a lot of waiting and is really fraying my nerves. We are the “better” couple — higher income, more child care experience, a son who can’t wait to be a big brother, and we live in the suburbs (while the other family has a condo in the city). We have not yet met the mother, but the other couple has apparently established a friendly relationship with her. We hope to do the same over the summer, to help her decision process.
My problem is I cannot come to terms with the fact that the choice will ultimately rest with this girl. On paper, my husband and I are the easy choice. Nothing against the other couple, but I believe if it were up to an objective party, anyone would choose us. But the process is designed so that the girl has the final say, which I can’t understand.
Why should it be her decision? She has already demonstrated questionable decision-making capabilities, and she will never know anything about us besides what she learns over a couple of casual lunches. We hope to make a good impression on her, but I am really going to pieces over the thought that maybe there are factors we won’t be able to influence. Why is this OK??? — Atlanta
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
I liked Carolyn's response. Who else could possibly decide here? Sure, teenagers sometimes make bad decisions--and her current predicament is proof--but if she doesn't decide, who will? Also, the LW is obviously not "objective".
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
Also, different does not necessarily mean "better".
I won't deny that money, on average, will produce better outcomes, but it's not a guarantee--and the difference between 250k in houshold income over, say, 100k would not be nearly so great as the difference between 100k and 15k in terms of truly providing for a child's needs.
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
If she feels this way about the mother, how can it not trickle down to the baby?
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I liked Carolyn's response. Who else could possibly decide here? Sure, teenagers sometimes make bad decisions--and her current predicament is proof--but if she doesn't decide, who will? Also, the LW is obviously not "objective".
Dear Atlanta: If I were the mom, your quickness to dismiss both the other couple and my right to make decisions for my baby would disqualify you without so much as a follow-up “casual lunch.”
What I see are two families who want a child, and both may offer this baby a wonderful home — neither one “better” than the other, just different. And I see a mother who got herself in a stupid spot but who is doing her best to get out of it, in the way that best serves her child.
If you can’t get over yourself long enough to see this isn’t a competition, but instead a community effort to save a life — and, therefore, that any good home is a great outcome, even if the home isn’t yours — then I hope you’ll recuse yourself from the “auction” altogether. — Yours truly, City-Dweller
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
There is a whole hellava lot more to being a parent than having a higher income and a house in the suburbs. Like the ability not to raise the child not to be a snobby, belligerant ass.
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LawyerLady
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.
There is a whole hellava lot more to being a parent than having a higher income and a house in the suburbs. Like the ability not to raise the child not to be a snobby, belligerant ass.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Why is a condo in the city not a viable housing option? Housing in a city is often far more expensive than housing in the suburbs. That's why people move to the suburbs. This woman is not only an idiot, but an ill informed idiot. The other couple could very well be more well off than her financially. We already know they are more well off than her emotionally and intellectually.
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Out of all the lies I have told, "just kidding" is my favorite !
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou