Meet Megan!

Desha and I decided to recruit a few more bloggers! One of which is Megan! She will be posting at least once a month and i am VERY excited about it! Here is a little about her!!

April 3, 2011

My name is Megan.  I was adopted in 1966 during an era of ultra-closed adoptions.  I began searching for my birthparents when I was 19 years old.  I made contact with my birthfather at age 20, and with my birthmother at age 31.  I’ve wanted to write about my perspective on adoption ever since I first met my birthmother.  This morning I finally started jotting down in my journal ideas for writing. Here’s what it looked like:

I came up with 20 things I would like to explore further:

1.         Gender differences in adoptee self-image

2.         How being adopted impacted my decision to have a homebirth and be a natural childbirth educator

3.         Adoption in Machismo cultures

4.         When adoption isn't the 2nd choice: Adoptive couples with no fertility issues

5.         Adoption:  A crime against humanity or a miracle from God?  My continuum model

6.         Current social science research about adoptees

7.         Adoption rage

8.         How I found my birth parents in spite of closed records

9.         The 25 most annoying things people say to adoptees

10.       What motivated me to search for my birthparents

11.       A birthmom from the late 1800's - My great-great-great-grandmother

12.       What is God's plan for those of us who are adopted?

13.       Birth mothers and feminism

14.       Dealing with adoption loss: Working through all five stages of grief

15.       Perceptions of adoption over the last 50 years - Is it time for another paradigm shift?

16.       Adoptee identity - Who am I?  Where did I come from?

17.       Learning from the scriptures - Adoption stories in the Old Testament

18.       Portrayals of adoption in some of my favorite novels

19.       Adoption blogging ethics - What is appropriate to blog about and what is off-limits?

20.       Lankiness vs. obesity and everything in between:  BMI, body image and adoption

I was having a hard time picking just one topic because I didn’t have a sense of what the readers of this blog most want to know.  So readers, what do you want to know?  I designed a very short online survey wherein you can give me your feedback.  The survey will probably take less than 3 minutes.  The list above is by no means exhaustive; please tell me what else you want to hear about from a 44 year-old adoptee. 

To take this very short survey, just click on the link below or paste it into your browser:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FD3QBF8

Since I used a free survey tool, you might get hit with an advertisement; I apologize for that.  Feel free to also comment on the blog about what you want to know about.

Thank you.  I look forward to interacting with the readers of B4A.

About me:

My adoption was finalized in 1967.  I was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, the youngest of 4 children.  My father was a physician, my mother a former teacher.  My oldest sibling was biological while the three younger siblings were all adopted.  I began searching for my birthparents in 1986.    I first made contact with my birthfather in 1987, and with my birthmother in 1997.  I married wonderful Jim in 1987.  He is a licensed counselor who provides therapy for families formed by adoption.  We have four children ages 12, 17, 20, and 22.  They mean everything to me.

Education:  Attended BYU for a while after high school.  B.S in Public Relations and Marketing from Eastern Michigan University in 1990, magna cum laude.  Certified Bradley Method Childbirth Educator 1991.  M.B.A. from Keller Graduate School of Management, 2004 (I started on my M.B.A when my youngest child was 1 year old and finished after he started Kindergarten).  Six Sigma Green Belt Certification 2009.

Employment:  I was a stay-at-home mom for several years, which is my favorite thing to be.  Currently I work full time for a community hospital as a strategic planner and business analyst.

Interests:  I love walking my dog, good friends, hugging my kids when they let me, scripture study, and Mediterranean cooking.  I am not much into politics, but I love reading about history and anthropology.  I have really bad PMS and wear size 4 jeans.  I currently reside in the Midwest with my husband and two youngest children.