Keely's Page

I am adopted so I decided to that I would research the effect cultural impressions of adoption have on the child, biological mother, adoptive mother and people outside of the transaction. In most cultures family is defined by biology, through DNA. Every time you meet someone you don’t assume that they are adopted, you assume they are related to their family. I want to know what being a family means? What makes a mother? Shared DNA or the bond between her and her child? What are the reasons a mother would want to give up her child? How does this affect the child and the two mothers? What does it mean to be a surrogate mother? How does the community react to adoption?
My assumption is that partly what defines a mother is the DNA. This is why there is some feeling in me that will always want to know who she is. And what I don’t understand is how she doesn’t have the same desire to meet me. But this feeling in absolutely no way makes me feel like less of a daughter to the mother that raised me.
I want to research all these questions and more about adoption. I want to interview women and their children to get a firsthand account. I am going to read newspaper and magazine articles, forums, and books. The resources I will use will be the National Adoption Center website and the library to find newspapers, forums and books.