Going Parental: Woman returns adopted child because they didn’t bond (seriously)

This is for real. This actually happened. A woman adopted a little boy, and then terminated the adoption ^[1]after 18 months, claiming she couldn’t bond with the child. Seriously? That’s even allowed? Apparently, it is. I watched the Matt Lauer interview ^[2] with the mother of this child, Anita Tedaldi. It absolutely blows me away that these people are sitting on a couch and talking about this situation with such dismissive and accepting tones. What the hell is wrong with people? These are children — real live little people. We’re not talking about returning an outfit that doesn’t fit. This is a person. What kind of message does this send to adoptive parents out there? What about the women that give up their infants thinking that they are off to a better home where they will be loved and cared for, not shuffled around? Will this type of story scare them away? Will it encourage more of this behavior? “Oh well, yeah I didn’t really bond so much with that kid, so I gave him back and now we’re trying out a new one. We’ll see how it goes.”

I fear this sends a horrible message.

Natalie Morales ^[3] from the Today ^[4] Show has a lot of sympathy for this woman. I have none. I felt nothing after reading her essay, other than complete sadness for this child. To be found on the side of the road, adopted and then given back feels just plain cruel to me. As a mother, it’s simply a decision and action I cannot connect with in any way at all.

Can you?

Going Parental appears every Thursday.