Finding myself and my kin in beautiful Finland
This month, I had the good fortune to have one of the most memorable trips I have ever had.
I visited Finland, or Suomi, in Finnish.
It is the ancestral home of my maternal great grandmother and great grandfather. I am a proud Finnish-American by birthright.
Using information shared with me by my biological family, along with the help of strangers as well as just good luck, I found my biological relatives before I Ieft for the country of some of my ancestral kin. We share a common ancestry to small villages in South Ostrobothnia, about 75 kilometers from the city of Vaasa. We are bound and connected by blood.
Over several days, I met many of my kin in different cities. I will be sharing more on that later. Those encounters reaffirmed for me, again, the basic human truth of the critical importance of kin relationships and biological family to our place in the universe. Deprived of that knowledge, we will forever feel adrift. With that knowledge, we feel a connection.
Many thousands of Michigan-born adoptees, like me, are denied this soul-enriching information by discriminatory state laws.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has done nothing to try and fix this grave injustice after nearly six years in office, though her and her staff are well aware of his legal inequality to thousands of people. There is also indifference visible by public silence to this systemic denial of basic rights by the Democratically controlled state legislature as well.
The only solution to this problem is the passage of lasting legislative reform.
I have been working on this for years, and I’ve reached out repeatedly to lawmakers, the state vital records keepers, and to Gov. Whitmer’s senior staff. They know about the issue, and they will do nothing unless they are forced to do something by residents in Michigan impacted by these laws.
Here are some suggestions I shared earlier this year for lobbying for reform to end this harm. I hope you will support these efforts, even if you are not a Michigan-born adoptee. As my Finnish relatives would say, “Kiitos!”
Very cool.
I find it incredible that the non adopted cannot comprehend that wanting to know one’s biological heritage does not make the adoptee damaged, but normal.
Grateful for you that you have had this opportunity.
Thanks. Knowing one’s past is that beloved hobby called genealogy, which everyone can do, except those who are adopted and denied knowledge of their past. The oldest question of human existence remains, “Who am I?”