But neither was the case. Simply put, I was adopted by my grandparents.

Of course, as with everything else in Cardigan's life, it's never as simple as it appears.

I never knew my biological father. Mother never married him and never told me more about him than his name. Since she's no longer alive, it's doubtful that I'll be getting more information from her.

Through a strange set of circumstances too long to go into here, Mother moved to Arizona when I was quite young, leaving me in Pennsylvania, where I was shortly adopted by her parents.

Except that they weren't exactly her parents, either. Her mother, too, never married the father of her first child. So, in effect, I know my birth-mother, who knew her birth-mother, but neither of us knew our natural fathers. This leaves me in the position of knowing half my heritage, which is 50% better than many adoptees.

My grandmother/adoptive-mother died when I was not quite eight years old. And since my birth-mother lived 2000 miles away, I effectively grew up without a mother.

The man that I now call Dad, however, is as fine a specimen of the human race as I could ever hope to have as a father. While I will always be curious about my biological father, he could never be my dad. That honor belongs to only one person, whom I love dearly. He adopted me. He adopted my mother, two decades earlier. How much more could I be bound to this man?

How has being adopted (even semi-adopted) affected my life? Well, there are many ways. I suppose there is, to some degree, an issue of abandonment. Many adoptees live entire lives without ever knowing why their birth parent(s) gave them up. Some people, for reasons that escape me, blame themselves. It's irrational, but I know that this goes on. I've never felt that way, and I've never consciously felt that abandonment was much of an issue, though I concede that there could be something subconsciously going on.

I think my biggest issue, if I may call it that, is simply curiosity. I wonder what my birth father was/is like. How similar are we? And then there's the issue of medical history. I have no way of knowing whether any conditions run in his family. Should I be more concerned than normal about specific cancers, for example?

In some states, adoptees records are sealed by the state, completely unavailable to the adoptee. This is unequivocally wrong. Yes, the birth parents should have a degree of anonymity if they want it. But things like medical records should never be kept secret from the adoptee.

What it boils down to is responsibility. If a person or couple decides to give a child up for adoption, that's fine. They can allow someone else the responsibility of raising them. If they also never want to meet the child in the future, that's fine, too. But to restrict information, including some which can have incredible relevance to the child's future life... I'm sorry, but that's wrong. The parents' wish for anonymity and/or privacy does not override the child's need to know about their medical background. They have the responsibility of providing it.

There are organizations out there who are lobbying to change these types of law. If you're at all sympathetic to the cause, I suggest you look into giving support to them. So far, the courts haven't been very receptive to the notion of adoptee's rights. But if more of us complain, they may change their minds.

As should be no surprise, I am a tremendous fan of adoption and one day hope to adopt a child. I would not, however, want to adopt an infant. There are way too many older kids in the world without parents. And too many adults who only want to adopt babies, not kids who are walking and talking, with minds of their own.