When I was little, everyone I knew who had been adopted as a child had grown up to become successful entrepreneurs and musicians. It happened three times in my extended family, alone. This led my very young self to believe that all my childhood traumas would be resolved if only I could somehow trade-in my obviously malfunctioning parental units for more reliable models… Just imagine the look on my face when a dear aunt finally sat me down and explained how adoption really works and why it’s important. I decided then and there that, as soon as I was an adult, I would adopt a dozen kids, and they would all grow up to be geniuses.
Of course, even after my aunt’s explanation, I was still a little kid with a big imagination. It didn’t occur to me that my life would turn out any differently than I intended. Yet here I am, 30 years old, and the only child I have is the one I made from scratch. No, life doesn’t always go according to plan, but that’s why I still feel so strongly about my original Plan A: Adoption. Because every kid deserves to be cared for like they’re a genius in the making.
[Read Kay Holt’s interview with Janice Halpern of the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange at GeekMom!]
