So after an amazing holiday I'm back. It was the sort of holiday where you forget everything, even what your life looked like! It took a few days to settle back into normality again. With a months break from all adoption related things I felt alien to it all, this quickly changed when i caught up on '15000 Kids And Counting'. The raw emotion of empathising with those Birth families was like a slap in the face, it was hard to watch but I'm glad I did because processing these feelings is such a vital part of this journey. I found it hard to accept that the mothers loved their children but still they were being taken away, it was so easy to feel their pain and anger. However after processing my feelings and talking to others, including my Mum who has experience in this field I realised that the ONE thing you always have to come back to in any of these messy situations is 'What is best for that child', ok the Birth Mum may change and be able to offer safety and security a few years down the line but in that time if the safety of the child is at high risk then it's too late. By the second and third episode I was feeling positive again and reassured that this is the right thing. I did however feel a bit guilty I guess (un rightly so) when the programme seemed to convey that adopters had too much choice and wouldn't consider older children or 'harder to place' children, the problem stems from there not being enough adopters but I still think its vital that adopters know what they can manage and are honest about it to avoid placement break downs.
'Wanted A Family Of My Own' on ITV is on at the moment too which I have found interesting, albeit a bit more 'glossy' and 'dumbed down' perhaps. I think that its good to show some uplifting stories and all of this adoption buzz in the media can only help in it being more of a norm and less of a taboo, which I think is wonderful. I also think that the ITV programme serves well as a sort of 'beginners guide' to give friends and families of prospective adopters a general overview of the system in action.