The Chosen Baby
My parents, Bud & Bernice (your great grandparents) adopted me at the age of 7 months. They wanted a girl. I believe I was about 4 years old when they told me. They gave me a book called "The Chosen Baby" which explains adoption to a child.Since I was so young when they told me I never thought it was a big deal. I was surprised when a kid told me I was lying when I mentioned that I was adopted. I couldn't understand why he'd think I'd lie about that.
From what I was told at such a young age, I had it in my head that they looked over all the baby girls in the adoption home (Chicago Foundling Home) and said, "We'll take that one." They always talked about me staring at them with my big blue eyes. I was probably in my 30's before I realized that the adoption had been set up since they tried to match the child to the parents as closely as possible (race, religion, nationality). I was not actually chosen from a storeroom of baby girls. That burst my bubble! Funny how when something is ingrained into your head as a child you carry it with you for a long time - until the reality lightbulb goes off.
They did not choose to keep my name Paula. It was a choice between Shari (or Sherry) and Judy. You know what they chose. Judy Garland was popular at the time (she is Dorothy in Wizard of Oz), and there are a lot of 1950 Judy's. You can almost tell the age in a decade of a woman named Judy.
The adoption wasn't finalized until they had me an entire year. They told me that
some parents actually returned babies! I have my adoption papers somewhere and will have to find them. My birth certificate shows Bernice & Harold (everyone called him Bud) Reimer as my parents. I believe I was born in Cook County Hospital.I was told The Chicago Foundling Home had an area were the pregnant women could stay until they had their babies. I'm not sure if that is true.
This was in the early 1950's, it wasn't acceptable to be pregnant without being married. Some young women would move elsewhere so neighbors and others in the family never knew they were with child. Once they had the baby they went home. I wonder what stories they told.
My Mom told me at some point that the foundling home had moved to a different state. Yet when I petitioned the court once to open my files I was told the Chicago Foundling Home was still in Chicago. I called once but only got an answering machine. I never went there in person. Adoption records are still closed in Illinois.
Through the years I really did feel special and chosen. If I had a choice of parents, I would choose them over and over again. I lived a Norman Rockwell picture, 1950's lifestyle. It was about as perfect as could be.
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