Casual Conversation

Five years ago I came across a post on The Lost Daughters (1) entitled, " Dear Adoptive Parents: The Burden of Adoptee Loyalty " ( archived link ). In this open letter to adoptive parents, the author - signed as "An Adult Adoptee" - painstakingly describes how adopted individuals often feel an overwhelming sense of obligation to their adoptive parents. In this post I will dig into the notion of adoptee gratefulness, digging into the original post and situating it within a soc