Different views on adopting

Re “An adoptee uncovers the risks of knowing,” Column One, Nov. 22

Thank you for printing Scott Glover’s story about searching for his biological parents, and ultimately about the life-altering choice he made as a result of his journey. Tales such as this could be part of what saves print media: Instead of spinning or preaching to us from on high by the droner du jour, we have been given an unadorned first-person recounting of a very real life.

With such a tale of human longing and unexpected insight, I’ll warrant you have touched many people (me included) and made us think about life a little bit differently as a result.

Frank Armstrong

Los Angeles

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I confess my critique of Glover’s article about his adoption comes from my perspective of 40 years as a marriage and family counselor.

All the women who heard his plan to find his birth mother told him his plan was a mistake. They were right. His adventure, rooted in his own yearning and curiosity, was more than a mistake. It was a disaster for his mother and her family.

Was he really so naive to imagine his birth mother’s husband would never learn of his visit to that small town? Entire books have been written about the damage wrought by family secrets.

Further, this sentimental front-page story, by omitting the inevitable marital trauma waiting in the wings, does injustice to every reader.

Ronald Soderquist

Thousand Oaks