Adoption, Philosophy, Society

I would have still loved you

I am thankful to be alive.
I am thankful I can type these words.
I am thankful I was not tossed into a dumpster.
I am thankful I had loving adoptive parents. But to be clear, I wish my birthmother had the legal choice to abort me. It was her life. It was her body.

Prior to Roe v. Wade, when I was born, 30 states prohibited abortion without exception. 16 states banned abortion except in certain circumstances such as rape or incest. For the last 50 years, a woman had that constitutional right. For those women who have never been in an abusive relationship, been raped, or who have never made a wrong decision, it may be more difficult to understand the anxiety of this choice.

My birthmother died before I found her. I may never fully understand her painful decision of caring for me in her womb for nine months only to relinquish me to another.

I find comfort in thinking she brought me into this world with the chance of offering me a wonderful life she could not fulfill. But since I arrived before Roe v. Wade, I may never know if I exist because a law said I had to be born. In other words, am I here because of my birth mothers free will?

I never knew my birthmother. But I love her as we must all love fellow humans. I would have loved her the same, perhaps in another dimension, if she chose to abort me.

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