Adoption

* A May 1 letter touted the benefits of adoption over second-trimester abortion, claiming that a woman who gives her baby away “gets paid to make a family happy.”

By the time a mother has given birth, the child is already emotionally attached to her. Breaking this bond is detrimental both to the mother and her child. While adoption may make one family happy, it separates a child from its mother. No amount of love from adopters can make up for the loss of a child’s natural family. Adoption may seem like a panacea for the growing U.S. infertility rate. However, the scars that adoption leaves on the mother and child, and perhaps on the father, will remain for generations.

TRICIA SHORE

Sherman Oaks