Monday, March 17, 2008

The Other Mother

"If China was full of lost daughters, I knew by now, it was also full of lost mothers."
- Karin Evans The Lost Daughters of China
Nineteen months ago today our family was enjoying a vacation at a local resort. We had no idea that we had a son who had just been born on the other side of the world.

With a third degree cleft lip and palate, he would have had feeding difficulties and his mother would have known right away that she wouldn't be able to take care of him. The laws in China do not allow giving a child up for adoption, and his mother would have felt that she had no other option than to do the hardest thing a mother could do. She set her infant down and walked away forever.

I think about my son now and wonder things like: Is someone taking good care of him? Does anybody rock him? Hold him when he's scared? And it occurs to me that he has another mother who is probably wondering the same things as me and worrying about him in the same way. Only for her, the questions will never get answered.

In the middle of the 7,000 other emotions we feel this week, there is a sense of grief for his biological family and a prayer for their healing.

2 comments:

debby94 said...

Hey Angie! I have been checking your blog every day and I am so happy that your travel approval finally came. I hope you have a safe trip over to China to get your new bundle of joy!! He is adorable and couldn't be going to a better family. Your blog always makes me smile!

Love ya & God bless,
Debby

Kelly said...

I love your thoughts here. I have been crying all morning as I read through your blog. As an adoptive mother, I have a true understanding of the things that you write, particularly how your heart goes out to the birth families. God has, indeed, taken care of Joshua and hopefully, someday, somehow his birth family may know that.