Category: healing

Please Don’t Tell Me How To Feel

Published on by Pamela A. Karanova4 Comments
I have felt the need to share something that’s been on my heart the last 24 hours since I shared my last blog post.
I had an adoptive mother tell me I should just think of my experience in a different way. It’s up to me to basically be thankful and grateful.  We’re all adopted into God’s Kingdom so what’s the difference right?
Let me just say, that it always seems to be the adoptive mothers who want to speak up and tell me how I should fell. I wonder why this is? If a child lost their mother in a car accident and they grieved this loss later in life would you tell that child how they should feel? I doubt it.
The truth of the matter is, I am just now grieving my losses and I am 8 days away from turning 40 years old. Do you know why that is? Because I spent 37 years of my life being brain washed by my adoptive mother, family and the rest of society on how I should feel. They always made me feel guilty for wanting to know my first family. For simply wanting to know WHO I AM. This not only denied me the right to share my true real feelings, but it denied me the right to grieve my loss until I became old enough to identify my real feelings, and be brave enough to share them.
I realize my blog isn’t full of fancy flowers and rainbow dreams. But my blog is full of the truth on what adoption has done to me and the pain it’s inflicted on me and in return my children, and one day their children. Instead of judge me, why don’t you look at where the source of my pain is coming from. The root issue is abandonment & rejection from my birth mother giving me up for adoption. All of the crazy stuff with my adoptive mother just adds to that root cause. But the ROOT CAUSE is from me being given away, tossed to the side by both my birth parents. Adding to that, they didn’t accept me when I finally did find them. The other side of that is my adopters telling me I should just be thankful that they took me in when my birth family didn’t want me. They took away my right to cry for missing my birth mother. They took away my right to know and make memories with my biological siblings and their children. Memories lost, never to be found.  They took away my right to grieve my loss. I could never share my feelings growing up, and this is why I share them now. They confused me because even when my feelings were of complete sadness and despair, they told me I had no right to feel that way. Now as an adult, I know I have a right to feel that way. If you lost your entire family in a car wreck wouldn’t you be sad about loosing them? Of course. Same thing but hopefully you had a chance to make some lasting memories with your loved ones. Adoptees don’t get that chance. 
It may be different for some adoptees, but I feel like I was adopted to fulfill my adoptive mothers desires to be a mother. I think she cares more about who’s going to take care of her when shes old, and the self-satisfaction she gets when someone calls her “Mother”. She still desires these things even when she’s never been a mother to me.
As for being adopted into God’s kingdom. I do believe I am adopted into Gods kingdom but there is a big difference. I had to make that choice to become a Christian and give my life to Christ. I had all the decision making into that factor of my life. I can say it was the best decision of my life, but I made it for myself. My church family is my family. I am thankful to God for them every day because they have shown me what REAL FAMILY Is all about. They have loved me unconditionally with no strings attached. They have taught me something that adoption hasn’t taught me. To love with no conditions. Adoption is the other way around.
I heard yesterday on the “How Does It Feel To Be Adopted” page ( www.facebook.com/howdoesitfeeltobeadopted) one of my fellow adoptees said in response to adoptive parents and society telling her how to feel,

“If you shared the same history as me, you may share the same sentiments”

Thanks Alex Bird! ❤

That was beautifully said and I couldn’t have said it any better. As long as I’m walking out my recovery journey and healing from the pain from my past from my adoption experience, I will share my feelings and my story. I will grieve my losses how I need to, just like you will grieve your losses how you need to. I know that I’m reaching other adoptees who have always felt alone, and I’m also reaching those adoptive parents who want to receive what an adult adoptee has to say because I have lived in the shoes of what their child is living. I believe that in time things will get easier, and maybe one day my blog will taper off into sweet nothings, but right now when I’m FINALLY able to speak freely about how it feels to be adopted, and share my journey and insight with the world some of what you read will be very painful.  If I wasn’t denied the right to grieve my losses growing up, I may not be grieving them by blogging about my feelings at 40 years old. Instead of judge me, maybe say a prayer for me.  I will do the same for you.
Let me ask, since you made it this far. How do you respond when others tell you how you should feel about being adopted?  What seems to work for you?  

Thanks for being here and for being a part of my journey! 

The Power of a Letter…

Published on by Pamela A. Karanova10 Comments

 I waited 20+ years for a letter in the mail that was promised to me by my birth mother. Every day the mail man would come, and I would be hopeful that letter would be there. I just wanted one letter. She promised she would send it. I wanted to see what her writing was like, and I hoped she would write the words, “I Love You” somewhere at the bottom. I could keep it forever as a keepsake to take out and read or frame it so it would last forever. But, sadly I never received it nor did I ever hear the words “I Love You”. I started to hate to check the mail. It was a daily let down, and a sadness that no one could grasp. Through the years, I had hung onto hope that one day that letter would come, but then she passed away in 2010 so that hope died, along with her. I would give anything to have that one letter. 

Now it’s 2014 and God has put an elderly man in my life I have cared for over the years and he has a son that has been estranged from the family. Today, I helped him write his son a letter. He wrote “I think of you often and hope you are well, I Love you,-Pop” at the bottom. I can only hope that letter will bring his son much joy, just like the letter I hoped to receive from my birth mother would have brought me. Maybe just maybe, my experience in understanding the power of a letter will bring him some comfort knowing that even when they may not have the best relationship, he has that letter, from his Pop that says “I love you”. 

God is good, all the time… And all the time……

She Loved You So Much…

Published on by Pamela A. KaranovaLeave a comment
It has been more and more on my mind that my birth Fathers rights were taken from my biological father and this is the reason he knew nothing about me until I was 37 years old. This has had a major impact on my life.
  The first and last time I met my biological mother, I asked her about my birth father. Her words were “He knew nothing about you and he wouldn’t want too.” I wonder why I couldn’t just take her word for it. I always believed  my birth mother “Loved me so much” because I was told this over and over again growing up. Hearing these words contradicted her actions. She shut me out after meeting just one time and wanted nothing to do with me after. What this has lead me to believe is that she truly didn’t love me at all. I honestly feel like it always made my adoptive mother feel better saying that because she wanted to make me feel better as well as society in general. In all honesty this only made my pain worse. I will never understand how you love something and hand it over to strangers. I can’t comprehend that. I don’t believe it. When my birth mother shut me out this was heart wrenching to me because I will never understand how a mother does that to their child. My heart will always have a missing piece, and I’m finally able to emotionally deal with this as an adult because I don’t have society and my adoptive parents telling me how to feel. I’m able to express my own feelings.
Thinking about my birth father and only getting to meet him two times, so many emotions come to mind. He too has shut me out, and this has also left me heart broken. I can’t help but wonder about how things might have been different if times were different and adoption laws in earlier years acknowledged the birth father as having parental rights. Would he have wanted to keep me? Based on his current actions maybe my birth mother was right? I know he was married at the time, and he had a drunken affair with my birth mother. That was the end of the story from what I was told. She was ashamed and he knew nothing about my existence. I have had to accept this is the truth about my conception. I was not planned. I was not created out of love of two people. I was a mistake. This is the truth I know, God planned me. But I needed to truth about my birth parents so I could accept this and move forward at a chance to heal.

WHY WAS THE TRUTH KEPT FROM ME FOR SO LONG? WHY DID I HAVE TO FIGHT AND DISCOVER IT ALONE ON MY OWN? If everyone “Loved” me why didn’t they HELP ME THEN?

If my birth mother kept me chances are I would have ruined a marriage just by simply being born. I feel now after knowing the TRUTH that she made the best decision she knew how but that doesn’t mean she loves me. Her actions after I found her show me otherwise. I think this is what has had me so messed up for so long. She gave me away to strangers and shut me out after I did locate her because I was a reminder of her pain. Of her shame and guilt. Not because she loved me. Love is patient and love is kind. She showed none of that and I have come to a place of acceptance that she didn’t love me at all. She wanted to get rid of her dirty little secret she hid from everyone.

I can’t be mad at my birth father, but I am going to write him one final letter and let him know how I feel. His irresponsible actions still play a major role in my life. He needs to take accountability. I am not holding onto any hope I will even get a reply but at least I am working up enough courage to share with him how I feel.

The adoption industry led my birth mother to believe she was making a selfless decision and the best decision for her baby. In the 70’s unwed mothers were less common than they are today but they increased in years to come. The truth is her shame and guilt for her actions and the stigma of that ear was greater than her love for me. She just wanted to get rid of me. I truly believe she never wanted me to find her or return into her life. The part I was struggling with is HOW SHE LOVED ME SO MUCH but SHE SHUT ME OUT AND REJECTED ME. I kept thinking about it and everyone else around told me she loved me, but she never did. Everyone in society is speaking for her but that is more lies to add to the pile of lies in adoption. Adoptees can’t heal from living a life of lies. I have had to uncover every single detail about MY LIFE ALONE. But the best part is; now I am able to heal because the LIES are exposed and I have found out the TRUTH on my own. God heals. I know this, but you can’t heal living a lie.

Maybe adoptees who had good reunion stories have a different way to look at their experience. But for me, I don’t think anything in life can top the pain from being rejected by your biological mother and father. That’s just the after effects of the original trauma of being separated from my first family at the beginning of life. Then another aspect is being raised in an abusive home that was not a better life. With adoption no one can promise a better anything. You can’t heal unless you know the truth!

Have you been lied too about your adoption? Were your biological father’s rights considered? How has this impacted you? What ways have you been able to heal?

You Can’t Heal A Wound By Denying It’s There…

Published on by Pamela A. Karanova2 Comments
I want to share a little about my recovery journey. As you already know my blog and writing are all a part of healing for me. I made a vow to blog more in 2014. I really find this is a safe place, and I can get my feelings out and no one can interrupt me or tell me how to feel. Why didn’t I discover this earlier? I might not have had so many emotions and feelings built up and they came out in other ways like anger, resentments, and rage, confusion, low self-esteem, etc.
I always say I’m in recovery from LIFE. What this means is that all life’s experiences have made me into the person I am today. I will say all the way back to being in my birth mother’s womb and being given away to strangers after I was 4 days old. This is part of me, it’s my history. I want to write about it because it’s mine to write. It’s the truth. I heard an adoptive mom say recently “You should never say “Given UP”; you should say “Given a Better Life”. This frustrated me a bit, because you can’t tell people what they should or shouldn’t say. What I say is based on what I feel and what I feel is based on my experience. Who is to say I had a “BETTER LIFE” anyway? I believe that’s the stereotypical statement that most people are lead to believe. That’s what the adoption industry want’s you to believe. “ADOPTION IS BETTER”. I have news for you, many adoptive families are FULL of dysfunction and have homes that aren’t fit for anyone to live in, let alone a child that has been paid for at a very hefty price. A price that’s based on LOSS all the way across the board.  I have always felt like I was abandoned at birth, because I was. My birth mother gave birth to me, and left the hospital and left me there. I was placed 4 days later by strangers. People I didn’t know.  This is abandonment. Whatever her intentions were she still gave up every right to parent me, and gave me away. I don’t care what anyone says, this is abandonment. This is where it all started for me.
GOD MADE YOU SO YOU COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
It’s been proven that adopted kids separated from their mothers for any reason or kids separated from their birth mothers at the beginning of life endure a trauma. When a trauma occurs and it’s not grieved or tended too in the proper way, it will come at other stages of life. To ignore the trauma only adds pain to that trauma. When a child is adopted or separated from their mother the beginning of life this needs proper grieving at the right age so the adoptee or child can heal in the proper way. This might seem foreign to some people. But take it from an adoptee that turned to drugs, alcohol, sex and violence, anger and rage 27 years of my 39 years of life. I have been living in VICTORY for almost 17 months. I’ve been in recovery from abandonment & rejection issues for 17 months. I’ve been sober for 17 months and during this time, I have been able to uncover what has been covered my whole life. That’s its okay to grieve the loss of my first family. Its okay to cry about the family I never grew up with. It’s okay to grieve the fact that my birth mother didn’t want to parent me. It’s okay at 39 years old to feel abandoned and rejected by the two people who should love me the most, my birth parents. It’s okay to feel the way I do and not have anyone else tell me how I should feel.  Do I feel like an idiot sometimes grieving something some people don’t even comprehend? Sometimes, but unless you have been left at the hospital by the woman that gave you life you will never understand how we, the adoptees feel. It’s been the biggest heartache of my entire life.
What do I think can be changed for future adoptees and those who have been adopted at the present time? I think that allowing the adopted child, or child who has been separated from his or her mother to grieve and encouraging them to grieve is a great way to start. This can’t be done by living in the “Fog” about what is really going on. Adoptive parents need to come out of the fog, and accept the truth about their adoptive child. As hard as it may be, read what adult adoptees are writing. Learn from them. We aren’t sharing our experiences for them to be kept in silence. Ask questions, and have an open mind. At 39 I’m grieving the biggest loss of my life, and that’s my first family. Until you grieve that loss it will always be an open wound deep down and it will never heal until grieving that loss takes place. Healing is possible but it will never happen by denying the issue is there.
In my recovery journey and giving up all substances and giving my life to God, I have learned that it’s not an easy journey. But I didn’t want to keep living with the pain from my past any longer. I feel all adoptees need to grieve their losses in order to live a healthy productive life. For some adoptees, they don’t feel they have any adoptee issues. That’s wonderful but certain things in life can trigger these issues, and they may very well come out at some point. My adoption issues have had an impact on every aspect of my life. The way I raise my kids, my relationships, bonding with people, letting people close to me, my work, my self-esteem, my happiness, and the list could go on and on.
I believe that God uses our pain for his gain. We each have a journey and we are called to share our experiences with the world. We have to share our struggles so they can help someone else heal. That’s what my blog is about. Maybe that’s what my journey is all about?
Healing is possible, but denying the problem or issue exists will never benefit the adoptee or the child separated from their mother.
Thanks for reading.
http://www.facebook.com/howdoesitfeeltobeadopted

Adult Adoptee Support Group-Lexington, KY

Published on by Pamela A. KaranovaLeave a comment
I have thought so many times about finding an adoptee support group in my area, but there is none.
This is no good. I have done so much healing just by being in contact with other adoptees online, and via my blog and twitter. What about those that don’t know about those things? What about those that are just as confused as ever with their adoption feelings but they don’t know where to begin with the healing process? Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a place to go to be able to share those things, and meet and fellowship with other adult adoptees? I sure think it would be
If anyone would be interested in participating in a support group for Adult Adoptees in Lexington, KY please email your information to:

adopteeloveforever@gmail.com

Revelation ESV 21:4
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

When I look in the mirror who do I see…

Published on by Pamela A. KaranovaLeave a comment

I think its safe to say that my whole life I never knew who I was, so when I looked in the mirror all I saw was someone that was lost, and didn’t have an identity because I didn’t have any idea who I looked like or who I was. This had some lifelong affects for me.

Now that I’m 37 years old, and I have completed my search and found my biological family I can tell you who I see when I look in the mirror. My birth father. We have some major similarities. When I see myself he is who I see. Everyday when I look in the mirror I think of him. Crazy how that works!

Now that my biological father has rejected me, it makes me sad to know that my own blood wants nothing to do with me. I don’t know if that’s something that I will just “Get over”.  But one thing I can rejoice on is now I know who I look like. I got to meet my biological father face to face two times. Some people go a lifetime never knowing, and never seeing the faces of those who created them. I don’t know what I would do if I never completed my puzzle. I know how I felt all those years not knowing, and now that I know who I am I feel at peace with that area. I’m so beyond thankful that God has made it all possible.

Now being able to talk about my feelings with being an adoptee I find it a healing tool and I feel like I have to share my adoption journey with others. God put these things in our lives for a reason, and we must share our experiences because I feel that’s what God intends for us all.

Of all the things I have been through, I am now learning that being given away at birth has had the most lifelong effects on me than anything else. When I started the healing process, I started working on feelings that went along with childhood sexual abuse brought on by a step brother. Then it went into being in abusive relationships my whole life, until I was 31.. Then I started working on my adoption and the issues I have had with being adopted. In the last 6-8 months I have been working on the root of some emotional issues I have carried around an entire lifetime, and I can honestly say I have never felt more FREE than I do today.  Who gets the credit? God. It’s as simple as that. He has given me the strength and courage to conquer each thing one by one. God has put certain people in my life to help me realize my true worth as well. Some situations harder than others, but each and every one I have learned so much from.

So now when I look in the mirror I know who I see. I love the person I am, and I know that no matter what happens in my life that my past is just that, my past. God doesn’t judge us by our past, so why should we judge ourselves or worry about what others think of us?

Who do you see when you look in the mirror?

A Letter To My Birth Mother

Published on by Pamela A. Karanova5 Comments

WRITING A LETTER TO MY BIRTH MOTHER

1.) Write a letter TO your birth mother about the possibility that you were deeply wounded when she disappeared from your life. (Again, names have been changed for privacy reasons)

Dear Eileen,

I’m writing you to let you know how you giving me up for adoption had an impact on my life in a negative way and the pain it has brought me sense you gave me away.

From the day I found out YOU gave me away, (I found out I was adopted when I was approx. 5 years old) I never stopped thinking about you. I dreamed about you, I fantasized about you day in and day out my whole life. I was never at peace growing up knowing I had another family out there somewhere. I needed to know who I was and where I came from. This caused me great pain and confusion in my childhood, juvenile life and on into my adult hood.

When I was little I had a feeling I was going to find you, or you were going to find me. I had dreams over and over running up and down the hallways at St. Francis hospital as a little girl, looking for you. That was the one place that I thought I might find you, because that was the last place we were together. I will never understand how you “LOVE” something then give it away. I would wake up, and I always remembered at that point it was just a dream. I also believed in my whole heart, that this was all just a big mistake. You would never give your child away, to be raised by strangers. Who would do that? This was just an accident, and you just had to be searching for me. I never gave up hope that I was going to see your face one day because then I could finally see who I looked like. You could hug me like I always dreamed you would.

I was never able to talk to my adopted parents about you. I was afraid they might get upset, or their feelings hurt. I never bonded with my adopted mom, and we have never gotten along. I felt like I was simply out of place my whole life, I never knew who I was. This caused me great pain, and frustration. This is great pain and frustration I had to keep silent, because there was no one to talk to about it. I acted out in many ways, because in my eyes I was taken from my mommy, even thoe I know you gave me away. I just wanted to be back with you.

I have never had a mother/daughter bond with anyone. This has been a great loss for me. It is very hard for me to create an emotional attachment with people, and when I do my guard is up 110%. This has caused me some huge relationship problems.

My birthdays have been horrible. Not one birthday goes by where I don’t get sad, and think about you. I always wonder if you are thinking about me on this day. I start to think about you more than usual about a week before my birthday. I cry when I’m alone and no one understands the sadness I have felt. I always wished you wanted to know me, like I always wanted to know you, but you didn’t.

When I finally found you when I was 21, I wrote you a poem. It was one of the best days of my life, yet one of the saddest. I finally made contact with you, but you hung up on me. It devastated me beyond measures.Now as a 37 year old woman, looking back I guess me finding you wasen’t what you wanted. It wasn’t what you dreamed about. Maybe me finding you was just too painful for you? Or you didn’t want to think about that time in your life. Whatever your reason, I’m sorry you felt that way. I’m thankful you spoke to me eventually, and we did get to meet a few times.

Do you remember me being by your bedside when you fell down the stairs and you were in a coma? I flew all the way to Iowa from Kentucky to see you because they were afraid you might die. I stayed 5 days, and prayed for you, held your hand. I even looked at your feet, because they look just like mine. Did you know I was there? I really never knew, because you never talked to me after that.

The next time I would see you was when you were laying in that casket, wearing the blue jean button up shirt with Christmas trees on it. You had your glasses on, and I remember your rings on your fingers. You really planned out your funeral to the tee. I was surprised about that. But one thing you forgot to mention was the other daughter you had and gave away. Did you forget? Or you just didn’t want to remember you had me? Not sure, but that hurt me a great deal. I felt totally out of place, as Joanna was listed as your only daughter in the obituarie and funeral brochure. I didn’t count for anything.

I wish I wasn’t so painful for you, because all I really wanted from you was a relationship. I’m really upset at the fact that you took the right away from my birth father to have a chance to even know me, or have a say so in you giving me up for adoption. I guess you didn’t think about his feelings at all did you? I know, I know. You said “He didn’t know anything about you, and he wouldn’t want too”. I remember you saying those words. I will never forget those words. I’ve tried to put myself in your shoes and the fact that I was conceived out of a drunken one night stand with a married man, who was much older and a close family friend is perhaps the reason you decided to give me up for adoption? You didn’t want the reminder of your bad choices?

Why did you continue to drink alcohol during the pregnancy? I know that was a different era, but I also know that you knew better than to drink alcohol while you were pregnant. What if you damaged me by doing that? I guess you didn’t care because you were giving me away, passing that “problem” onto a different family to have to deal with. How selfish of you. I’m really mad at you for that. You can’t tell me you loved me and you drank the entire pregnancy. That’s a lie. You also didn’t give me away because you loved me, you gave me away because you didn’t want to look at your mistake every day. Why didn’t you just have an abortion? I wish I knew the answer to that question. But then again, it doesn’t really matter now. The damage has been done.

I will close this letter by saying I wish I was never adopted. I wish you never gave me away. But now it’s my job to learn how to cope all this pain being adopted has brought into my life, and share my journey with others.

I just wish you could have found it in your heart to send the letter you promised, and to hug me just one time. Why was that so hard?

Did you know the woman you gave me too wasn’t even capable of being a mother? Did you choose that?

Your daughter even thoe you gave me away,

Pamela