DEAR ABBY: This letter is for "Smiling in the Carolinas," and the many other mothers who have placed their babies for adoption.
One of my daughters was unable to have children. With medical assistance from specialists, she tried unsuccessfully for nearly 15 years without achieving motherhood.
We are eternally grateful to the biological mothers who enabled our daughter and her husband to finally have a family. I never think of the adopted children as being different in any way. They are God's most wondrous blessing to me and my family. I tell my grandson he gets his sense of humor from me, and my granddaughter that she takes after my mother with her dark eyes and hair. My husband was so proud of our first grandson, he wheeled him from door-to-door to introduce him and show him off to our neighbors.
Abby, please tell those wonderful, giving mothers that they have brought great joy to the families they made complete with their unselfish gift. They need have no fear that they didn't do the right thing. I thank all of the courageous women who placed their babies for adoption so these children could have a good life with people better able to care for them. -- GRATEFUL GRANDMOTHER, LONG ISLAND, N.Y.
DEAR GRATEFUL: You have said it very well. I hope your letter will reassure young, single mothers-to-be who may be struggling with the question of whether or not to keep their baby.