My niece Katelyn Etter is being adopted, and those adopting her have cut off all contact with her family but written letters--a most unnatural form of communication for her as she saw her grandparents, aunts, brothers, and cousins all the time. We're that sort of nourishing family, and I wish Katie's potential parents could see that.
I miss her so much.
How awful....
ReplyDeleteI have been a foster parent and know what it's like to have a long-term foster child adopted by another family. There is a temptation on the part of the adoptive family to feel like the good guys, which is fair enough. But the corollary is that they feel the 'other' people must be bad guys.
ReplyDeleteOnce the adoptive parents lose their initial fear and insecurity, they will be more willing to accept that they can be good without having to think of that 'other mother' as bad. The fact that drug problems are involved only increases their fear.
However, once the adoptive family have established that they are caring for Katelyn - on their terms, in their house, with their rules - they should be able to include visits to (or from) Grandmother before too long.
Hope so.