Heard, acknowledged, and not forgotten about.

You all know this weekend, at least here in America, is Mother’s Day.

But what you very likely didn’t know, is that today, the Saturday before Mother’s Day, is known as Birth Mother’s Day.

It’s a day specifically for birth moms, those that have placed a child for adoption.

Every adoption and adoption journey looks different. Most birth moms know of and recognize Birth Mother’s Day. Adoptive families recognize this day far less often, many of them not even knowing it exists.

In my adoption journey, my birth sons family doesn’t acknowledge this day, and I honestly don’t think they know it exists.

I’m not saying that in a derogatory way, it’s just…unless you have a pulse on the adoption community, specifically the ones in support of the birth families, you probably wouldn’t.

I hate this weekend.

I hate today, I hate tomorrow….it’s just all filled with so much grief and heartache for me.

My birth son is 10 years old. And it’s been one of the hardest journeys of my life, existing without him. It’s shaped everything I’ve done since then. How I parent, how I view things, how I feel on certain days (like Mother’s Day), and so much more.

This week has been hell. For a lot of reasons. Despite the fact that I have 3 beautiful sons who I do parent, this week has been one where my self worth is so low (thanks to my own parents) that I don’t even feel worthy of being “celebrated”, or even thought about in that way. As a “mom”, worthy of love and appreciation.

Grief is funny. And hard. And at certain times, illogical.

Social media is full of reminders not only of tomorrow, but of the lesser known today. All the birth moms begging to be heard. Acknowledged. Not forgotten.

At the end of the day, that’s all we really want.

To be heard.

Acknowledged.

And not forgotten about.

It’s all any of us want.