Moses, a prophet to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, likely is the world’s best-known adoptee. His lifelong journey also embodies the archetypal hero’s journey, as described by writer Joseph Campbell. The print showing Moses as an infant before his adoption and floating in a basket on the Nile comes from the Library of Congress, dated 1887.
Adoptees, by definition, are born into a status shared by heroes throughout time and cultures the world over. Like the Hero with a Thousand Faces, described by Joseph Campbell, they are separated from their kin as infants and must embark on a hero’s quest to find themselves and their sometimes dark secrets. Think of King Arthur and Moses as classic adoptee heroes who undertake long and dangerous journeys before they finish as leaders.
In my case, I was born a bastard in Detroit and given up for adoption because of societal stigma against single birth mothers and unwanted infants. My lifelong quest to find my past, my family origins, my original birth records, and equality, in my estimation, are the stuff of myth and legend. In my own way, I climbed the mountain, slew my dragons, crossed the ring of fire, and emerged a better person as only someone can after a true hero’s journey. By taking this path and confronting the unknown, I found a meaningful and good life.
Find a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are on my chapter summary page. See the timeline of key events in my adoption journey, from my relinquishment as an adoptee in the mid-1960s to overcoming the state of Michigan’s likely illegal actions withholding my original birth certificate decades after he had no legal grounds keep it from me. Click on each chapter link for an excerpt to the beginning of each section:
Chapter 1: Meeting my Half-Sister
Chapter 2: The Most Suitable Plan
Chapter 3: A Place for Unwed Mothers
Chapter 4: How Scott Became Martin: A Life Told in Records
Chapter 5: Knowing You Are Adopted: Just Look in the Mirror
Chapter 6: Blood Is Thicker Than Water
Chapter 7: Legalized Discrimination Against Adoptees
Chapter 11: Out of the Darkness: A Son Emerges from the Shadows
Chapter 12: After the Discovery: Figuring out a New Identity