Update

My book revision is on its way!

I Must Have Wandered: An Adopted Air Force Daughter Recalls saw the light — began life -- about a year ago. I continue to learn from fellow indie authors as well as from the adoptee community. As state laws begin to acknowledge Adoptees’ rights to our birth records and heritage, I want to reflect on and contribute my perspective: What does it mean to be a seventy-two-year-old female adopted person, relinquished in the Baby Scoop Era? Adoptees are realizing our equality, and claiming our unique voices and stories. Writing memoir is only *one* way to express our diversity and solidarity. So, to celebrate my debut to Substack, and the change in South Carolina adoption law which should facilitate the release of my pre-adoption records and original birth certificate, I decided it's a good time to launch my revision. The essence of my memoir doesn't change. There will be an evocative new cover, and a fresh interior design with an expanded photo archive to replace the original. For now, the softcover in its first iteration is still on Amazon, and Ingram-Sparks. And new copies are sold on eBay by several sellers, including yours truly. Thank you for traveling with me!

Photo by Clay Banks on UnsplashOrigins

Origins

We downsized, packed, and moved our household from Sarasota, FL back north to Lewes, DE, during the height of the pandemic, while I was completing my book. No denying that the effort was both strenuous and stressful, and fraught with emotion. No regrets. As for the writing part, my desire to embrace the "who”, “how”, and “why" of my life impelled me. Adopted or not, our need to know the truth of our origins is universal. Whether to commit them to paper (or screen) is up to the individual.

We might have been raised in a family where disclosure with informed guidance and sensitivity is the practice. Tragically, many come to know that their biology doesn't jive with what they were led to believe, as with “late discovery adoptees”. Or, “N.P.E.: wiki: Not Parent Expected--In genetics, a non-paternity event is a situation in which someone who is presumed to be an individual's father is not, in fact, the biological father.” Accidently, they've learned the parent(s) who raised them deceived them; they were not conceived by them. Whether we have always been confident of our origins or discovered them unwittingly, we have a right to our stories. Adoption laws must change to allow us access to our true birth records and citizenship. My memoir found its hybrid shape through authentic letters, vignettes, lyrical prose, and images—parts and pieces that reflect the fragmentation caused by relinquishment; my abandonment as a newborn, and adoption by an unsettled military couple. Revision coming soon!

I hope my quest inspires others on their unique journeys. 💜