The Primal Wound & Moral Injury

When Basic Values Are Violated in Adoption & Other MPEs

Mom & her grandmother c.1941

I was not adopted, but I've always felt a strange affinity for those who were. My mother was adopted by her maternal grandmother as a child. She knew of her mother but had no relationship with her. She knew nothing about her biological father, but was fortunate to have a stable grandmother in her life. She never addressed her adoption issues, as if they no longer mattered in adulthood—water under the proverbial bridge. We rarely spoke of her mother or grandmother; that was terra incognita. Life pressed on, and there were plenty of other issues to worry about. But as any curious child, I was a natural explorer. I wanted to know more.