As Rightful Narrators: Adoption, RAD, and Storytelling
Recently, the New York Times Motherlode blog posted an essay by author Tina Traster entitled, " You're not my Real Mother ." The essay processed her gut reaction to hearing the infamous "you're not my real mom" phrase from her daughter. Traster retorted "well who is then?" and directed her daughter never to say the phrase again. Traster described her own hurt feelings while disclosing her daughter's adoption narrative and Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) diagnosis to readers across the globe. Her daughter's narrative and diagnosis are also embedded in the premise of her book Rescuing Julia Twice . The reaction to the article exposed sincere concern in the readership regarding the level of information-sharing on the child's behalf in the article. One Motherlode reader conversely posed the question: shouldn't parenting essays show the challenges of parenting, including a parent's raw and honest revelations however i...