Teen Adoptees Speak About Finding Birth Family on Facebook

Remember the teens in the I found my birth mother on facebook  NYT article I posted about last week? Well the New York Times Motherlode blog has given them a chance to share in their own words -- one, an essay written for English class and the other, a college application essay.  Here's excerpts from each:

From Jessi:

What bothered me the most was not knowing what she looked like. My mom always said I look just like her, but that never gave me a mental picture. Did she have the same color hair and eyes? Did she have other kids before or after me? Is she still with my biological father? These questions went unanswered until mid April of 2009. That was when I found her on Facebook. There she was, so beautiful and younger than I thought. I recognized that face, that hair, those eyes. I had seen those things on myself in the mirror, and she was exactly the same. After years of wondering and pain, I had found my real mom. Her name was spelled differently than I had ever seen, Sharyn DiNubila Padula. Finding my biological mother changed my life because I got to see where I came from, what she looked like, and why she gave me up seventeen years ago.

From Alexander:

“To ask or not to ask? That is the question.” As the words exploded from my mouth, it was clear that I decided to finally ask my mom if I could call my birth mother on the phone. I was only about seven years old then, but as far back as I can remember, I fantasized about what it would be like to speak to her. To hear her voice. To have an actual conversation with the woman who gave birth to me. “What would you say to her?” my mom asked. Without any hesitation I said, “I would tell her that I love her”

So began our journey to connect with my birthmother.

* * *

As we all know, Facebook took off at lightening speed and in the end, it was how I finally found my birth mother. In fact, I found my entire birth family. Several weeks later after many “getting to know you” conversations, my parents and I flew down to Florida meet my birth family face to face. A dream come true is the best way to describe what it was like to see people who actually looked like me.

Heartfelt essays from these teens. I'm intrigued by the college essay, having served on the law school's admission committee for so many years. In this post, I've already touched on whether adoption makes a good college essay topic