Recently, the Huffington Post published a blog post from a teenage adoptee about her reunion with her two biological brothers. The author of the post, Susie Q., and her two brothers were adopted from Columbia and all lived in close proximity of each other in America, but Susie didn’t know her brothers existed for many years.
Susie writes that one day she asked her mom if she had any biological siblings, and her mother responded that she had two brothers and one had written her a letter years ago. Her mother kept the letter hidden for years because she was worried about confusing Susie, but decided this was the right time to share the information.
“I had to be understanding,” Susie wrote about her parents keeping the letter from her. “My parents never want anything but the best for me – I might have done the same thing.”
After Susie wrote to and eventually spoke to her brothers, the three families all got together. Susie writes that she was concerned this would change her relationship with the brother she grew up with.
“When I found out about my biological brothers, I was worried that meeting them would change the way my brother felt about me. I didn’t want him to think I was replacing him, but he was so happy for me and I realized how much he really cares for me,” Susie wrote. “The experience of meeting my biological brothers brought my love for the family I was raised in to a new level. I have never been more grateful to have such a large support system in my life.”
I enjoyed reading this post because you don’t always get to hear about adoption from the prospective of the young adoptee. Hiding the letters written by Susie’s brother could have backfired on her parents, but by answering Susie’s questions about biological siblings openly and honestly when the opportunity arose, it seems to have taken a great deal of the pain out of a potentially troubling situation.
It is a difficult when biological brothers and sisters are split up in different homes, but this story seems to have a happy ending. If you’re an adoptive parent whose child(ren) have biological siblings living elsewhere how do you handle these relationships?
If you would like to read Susie’s full post, click here.