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I loved this article. Its simplicity clearly conveyed the pain, awe, and uncertainty of bringing a new life into the world. The simple reality of the world is that not all women who find themselves pregnant are able to raise happy, healthy children while maintaining their own mental and physical health. It is simply not true that all women who decide to keep babies, in retrospect, made a good decision. To those letter writers who do not yet have children and cannot understand that someone might question the decision to have one, caring for a baby or babies adquately is HARD. Its emotionally and physically draining, lonely, and demanding. It has its rewards as the children grow and mature, but those rewards are often difficult to perceive when confronted by a screaming 18 month old or a surly 13 year old who refuses to listen to you.
I now raise two kids (in addition to my three birth kids) along with their mother. The mom, who is a good friend, simply cannot physically or emotionally take care of two kids on her own. My grandmother ended up caring for many of her nieces and nephews as troubled adolescents because her siblings were not able (for whatever reason) to care for them. I care for my nephew for long periods of time because one of my siblings and his spouse simply do not have the emotional stability to care for him all of the time themselves. Would all of these kids have been better off in loving, stable adoptive families? In my view, yes. Unfortunately, the lifelong pain of giving a child away often motivates women, who deep down know that they don't have the emotional health or fortitude to raise a child, to keep children who would be much better off in more stable environments. So, I applaud both of Madison's mothers for confronting and addressing a situation that will cause them both lifelong sadness and difficulty in the interest of providing a stable and healthy environment for Madison.
