Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Meeting the Birth Mom and Brother

Jasmine had her follow up for her surgery on August 1. She got the stints out of her nose. It was not fun, but she survived. 


Dr Lentz, her surgeon for this surgery. Her previous one retired.


This was in Gainesville, then we drove to Jacksonville to visit their dive shop. It's great. They even have a pool in the dive shop to teach the basics and to test skills. Jasmine and I both got wet suits there. Much, much less expensive than here.

Then we went to a nearby Chuck E Cheese where we had arranged beforehand to meet Jasmine's birth mom, Alma. I had not seen Alma since Jasmine was an infant, but have shared pictures off and on for the past four or five years. I haven't seen the brother since a Christmas party when Jasmine was an infant. 

I felt Jasmine was old enough to meet Alma. Jasmine is so attached to me that I had no worries about any of it, and it seemed like a good time to meet.

 Alma's boyfriend and one of Jasmine's birth half-brothers came with her. He was supposed to be adopted by an older family but for some reason he was adopted by a single lady. Not a good choice. He was moved constantly while we were foster parents, yet he was never placed with us even though we had Jasmine. I would have adopted him too. But there was always someone else who was going to take him and was a better choice. Obviously not since he is not with his adoptive family. He was kicked out I guess.



It was mid afternoon and we hadn't eaten, so we got pizza while we waited for them.





Wanya (Juan yay), Alma and Jasmine


Alma and I talked a lot about Jasmine while Jasmine got acquainted with her brother. It wasn't awkward at all. Alma said we do a lot (trips and activities), and I told her that my kids don't have all the latest game systems and electronics. Jasmine only has a tracfone with minutes. We'd rather put the little extra money we have into experiences than things. We talked about Jasmine's academic struggles and how they compare to birth family members and such.

We plan to meet up again next summer so more of Jasmine's birth family can meet her.

Anyone else in contact with birth parents?

3 comments:

Sophie said...

I'm really glad the meeting went well! How did Jasmine feel about it?

Kathy Cassel said...

She seemed to hit it off with her brother, although he didn't really talk. She wants to get together again next summer.

:)De said...

I talk by phone to my youngest' birth mom often, but because of her delays, she is more invested in her relationship with me than anything else. I send pics and share achievements.