Happy Birth Mother's Day

Wanted to share an email I received from a friend who happens to be adopted and also has adopted a child herself...

Mother's Day is such a special day for mom's and their families. As a child, I don't recall thinking about my birth mother on Mother's Day, because my adoptive mom is my mom. However, I'm quite sure I would have been open discussing her on this holiday weekend.

This Saturday, May 8th, is Birth Mother's Day. For the last 5 years, Amy and I have done something to honor our first mothers. We have planted perennials several times. We enjoyed them through the summer and eagerly anticipated their return in the spring. We know exactly which ones they are. Last year, Amy wrote her birth mom a letter and we attached it to a lot of helium balloons and released them in a park with plenty of tree clearance. No matter what you may decide to do with your child, it is a great opportunity to honor the woman who gave birth to your child. When you honor your child's birth family you honor your child.

Here is some more information about Mother's Day and Birth Mother's Day....

Mother's Day, celebrated since the days of Ancient Greece, is observed on the second Sunday of May. And ever since 1990 when it was first celebrated in Seattle, Birth Mother's Day (or First Mother's Day) has been observed on the Saturday before Mother's Day.

Birthmother's Day ....Mary Jean Wolch-Marsh first conceived the idea as a result of her own adoption experience. She knew she was a mother, but didn't feel recognized as such, either by those around her or by her daughter's parents. Remembering the feelings she'd experienced at her daughter's birth - feelings of triumph and euphoria - she used them to help in her own healing.

May Birth Mother's Day bring acknowledgement and recognition to every birth mother who ever loved a child lost to adoption. May it honor and celebrate every mother who became childless after birthing a child, and was forgotten on Mother's Day. - Mary Jean Wolch-Marsh

So today I plan to talk to the girls about their first mother. I am not sure how I plan to honor their first mothers every year, but we will definitely do something special for them :)