Adoption: Judith Fleming and Amy Seek
"As a birth mother you experience guilt for giving up your child", an American woman who gave her son up for adoption talks openly with a British woman who adopted a little boy
Kim Chakanetsa brings together two women from the US and UK, who have been at either end of the adoption process, to reflect on their choices.
Judith Fleming is an actor and writer based in the UK who decided to adopt a child, on her own, at the age of 40. We are using a different name to protect Judith's and her son's privacy. Judith looked through many profiles, but says when she saw a picture of her son she knew he was the one and she had to be his mum. Judith's open with her little boy about his identity and he knows that she didn't "grow him in her tummy".
Amy Seek is an architect from America and got pregnant at the age of 22. She made the difficult choice to give her child up in an "open adoption" and went through a painstaking process of trying to find the right family for him. Sixteen years on and Amy still lives with the pain of her decision, but she does have a relationship with her son. She reveals that they haven't had an in-depth talk about the circumstances of his adoption and hopes one day he will understand how hard it was for her to make that choice.
Photo: Judith Fleming and Amy Seek with Kim Chakanetsa in the studio, Credit: 大象传媒
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"I want to feel all of the pain"
Duration: 01:56
Broadcasts
- Mon 15 Aug 2016 02:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 15 Aug 2016 04:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East, South Asia & UK DAB/Freeview only
- Mon 15 Aug 2016 06:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
- Mon 15 Aug 2016 12:32GMT大象传媒 World Service except News Internet
- Mon 15 Aug 2016 18:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean & Australasia only
- Sat 20 Aug 2016 23:32GMT大象传媒 World Service except Americas and the Caribbean & News Internet
- Sun 21 Aug 2016 00:32GMT大象传媒 World Service Australasia
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