Wow, your adopted parents must be SO AMAZING!
So what happened to your real parents?
OMG, you and your brother could like totally date since you’re not really related!
You must be really against abortion then, huh?
What was wrong with your real mom?
Did you see Sandra Bullock’s new kid!!?? squeeee!! he’s SO adorable!
Oh, wow, adoption is so beautiful – I love adopted people!
I totally want to adopt some day. I just don’t see the point in having your own kid when there are so many out there I could have.
oh wow, you are SO lucky!!
Yeah, I would totally adopt some day, but like only a baby, not one of those special needs or foster kids – i know this is fucked up, but they’re just so, you know…damaged.
so, do you know your real family?
Ugh, I SO wish i was adopted. My family is so fucking annoying. It’d just be nice to know i didn’t actually come from them.
Wow, you’re like, really angry.
I mean, at least you weren’t thrown in a dumpster.
Oh, you must be so grateful!
Isn’t it great that your parents wanted you SO much?? Oh, sorry, i mean your adopted parents.
You are so special!!
It’s so weird, but you almost actually look like your parents.
You must really love your birthmom for being so selfless and courageous.
I think it’s so great how celebrities these days are adopting all these unwanted kids, don’t you? I really admire them.
Oh…I’m sorry.
So, wait, I’m confused. Your step-parents? Wait, no your real parents? I mean your adopted parents. Wait, fuck. Ok, who are you talking about?
So was she like on drugs and stuff?
Oh really? My __________ is adopted. She’s so well adjusted. Not like you, I mean, sorry, I just mean she’s not all sad and angry and stuff. She really loves her parents.
Oh really? My _________ adopted a kid. He is SOOOOOOO cute and cuddly. They got him after that big disaster in ____________. Thank god they saved him!
But don’t you think you’re totally better off?
I always wished I was adopted.
Your parents are so nice though! You really shouldn’t be sad. If I were you, I’d be so grateful just to have a home.
OMG, you are SO fascinating – your life is just like an Oprah episode!
I know, I totally get it. I always felt like I didn’t belong in my family either.
So do you think you’ll adopt some day?
Sigh!!!Does it ever get any better?
I always hated when people told me I was so lucky to be adopted, I get new parents.
I’m always amused at the faces I get when I tell people I’m adamantly pro-choice and an adoptee. They look at it as a contradiction in terms, I look at it as compassion.
Ugh–the “I wish I were adopted” comments make me furious. Do you also wish you were stigmatized or disadvantaged in other ways? Wanna be poor because those people are the salt of the earth? Wanna be all gay and native American and differently abled because that would get you some really cool scholarships? No? Then *why* pretend you wish you didn’t know who you are?
And “I feel that way too” really gets to me. Yeah, your ordinary alienation is so very not ordinary that it’s like not knowing where you come from and never looking like anyone in your family. Sure it is. It’s exactly like that. In fact, when people ask me how it feels to be adopted I always say “It feels really emo.” SPARE ME.
If you have horrible abusive parents, and you think it really would have been better off for you to have been adopted, *find a different way of saying that when you know the person you’re talking to is adopted.* Sheesh.
This is fantastic writing and ALL TRUE!
Whoa…there they go again.