The "Shape" of Adoption: What’s a Meta For?
Earlier today on FB, Hanne Andersen linked a 2009 Motherhood Deleted post, The Myth of the Triad. In that entry, blogger Robin Westbrook (one of favorite bloggers, btw), linked to one of my first pieces on the triad myth–a copy of my presentation at the oxymoronical 2006 Ethics in Adoption Conference in Arlington, Virginia where adoptees and moms suffered through bastard moments and shut-up Q & A sessions. Re-reading my short presentation got me thinking about the pretty shapes-of -adoption deformers like to toss about at hearings while they’re being polite obedient children asking for a cookie. ADOPTION: CIRCLE, TRIANGLE, PENTAGON, CONSTELLATIONWhat next? Decagon? So I did a Google search on geometric figures to see if there is anything that actually fits adoption and the complicated and secret relationships it invents. I like Adoption Trapezoid, with its scary implications, but it’s just a four-sided “triangle.” The Cone of Shame is tempting. Personally, I favor the Metatron’s Cube model, but it’s something only adoption nerds can enjoy, and impractical and irrelevant to politicians and frumpy bureaucrats who hold the key to the locked cabinets. WARNING: : For internal use only! This leaves only one symbol The cross. (I know!) But think about it. A big horizontal plank with two little planks nailed to Continue Reading →