Producer, actress and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey once said: "Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother," and we couldn't agree more. One doesn't really have to give birth to be a mother; one could adopt a child and still be the most wonderful mother, just like this woman describes how she was adopted and was blessed to have an amazing family.
Dana Mason Womer was adopted by a wonderful family and says she had a lovely childhood in a home that respected women and encouraged them to give their best at whatever they did. "Most nights we sat down and ate as a family, and always celebrated and loved holidays. We went to the movies. I grew up at home where I always knew I was loved," she wrote on her blog, and later on Love What Matters as a Facebook post.
What really caught our eye was how she fondly talks about the adoption when it is a touchy topic with many people. She even says that she loves talking about it as she is grateful for it.
"I am adopted. This is a phrase I have said hundreds of times in my life. When I'm at a new doctor and they want my family history: I am adopted. When my kid's doctor wants a family history on his maternal side: I don't know. I'm adopted. When someone comments on how I look nothing like my little sister: It's because I'm adopted.
"Don't get me wrong–I love talking about it, I love telling people my story. It's just my way of life. These simple words have opened up so many different conversations and connections and pathways for me. There has never been a time in my life when I didn't know I was adopted, that I was chosen," she explains.
Womer, a resident of Minnesota, addresses both her birth mother as well as the family she grew up with in the post and says that she isn't ashamed of saying that she was adopted.
She tells her birth mother that while they may probably never meet, she has inherited a lot of characteristics from her like her "curly hair" and "a feisty attitude."
"I have your blood running through my veins, your curly hair, your laugh. I have your messiness (hello, nature vs. nurture) and your feisty attitude. But I also like to think I inherited a 'kind and generous' gene from you," the 35-year-old wrote. "I now understand the weight of what you did for me–choosing to keep me safe those long nine months, every scream you let out and every aching pain you felt while bringing me into the world, bearing the burden of giving your child a future by giving her away–for all that and more I thank you. I love you and I thank you."
Talking about the family that adopted and brought her up, Womer says that she is thankful for everything they did for her. She beautifully expresses her gratitude for choosing to adopt her, for encouraging her and even sending her to college.
"Thank you for making sure I had a lasting relationship with both sets of my grandparents and all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. Thank you for giving me a sister, a best friend for life," she adds. "I am adopted. And I am so very lucky," she concludes.
Here's the complete post
