A Shout Out to Adoptive Moms

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I have been unintentionally exclusive in some of my posts. I know it’s unreasonable to expect all moms (or even most moms) to identify with everything I write. But for some reason it has been bothering me that so many of my posts about motherhood involve some mention of carrying another human being inside me. While this might be how many of us became mothers, I know it is not a necessary part of motherhood. 

So, I want to dedicate this post to the mothers whose children grew on the outside. 

You may not have visible stretch marks from a belly that had to expand to hold your child, but I know you have invisible stretch marks on your heart from it reaching outside your body to whatever belly your child was growing in. 

You may not be able to blame those few extra pounds on the baby weight you are still carrying, but you can certainly blame them on the sleepless nights and stress of your "baby wait."

You may not have been your baby’s first home, but I know you will be darn well sure that he has the best possible home for the rest of his life.

I don’t have any direct experience with adoption. However, I have had the pleasure of Facebook-stalking several acquaintances who have adopted children, and they are no less mothers than their counterparts whose children happened to grow in their uteri. So, I apologize for my unintentional exclusion. Please know that, in my opinion, you may be even more amazing than the rest of us because you somehow managed to grow a human being on the outside.