[RavenSong]

Paige, that must have been so hard for you. Did you have to go to a maternity home? One of my friends who became pregnant at the same time I did had to go to the Salvation Army Door of Hope in San Diego. I felt so bad for her at first, but she actually preferred it to living at home, where she would have had to put up with her parents' disapproval and disappointment on a daily basis.

It was lonely living at home, cast off in my bedroom. But I had my guitar and my books. LOL, I was the kind of kid who loved being sent to my bedroom when I was in trouble, so I could curl up on my bed and read all day. And I got really, really good at the guitar when I was pregnant...a lot of time to practice! But it still was lonely, and I remember wishing that I could just talk to my mom about my feelings. But I don't think she wanted to hear them. I don't think I ever told one human being how I was feeling during my entire pregnancy...and nobody ever asked. I remember when I signed the relinquishment papers wishing that my son's new parents would adopt me too. At the time, I thought he was the lucky one. I don't feel that way now, but I did back then.

Do you think Dear Abby would really read our letters if we sent her our views on adoption? I at least want her to know that she's perpetuating a very old societal stigma about unwed motherhood. And she really needs to be told that adoption should never be used as a punishment or "sobering object lesson", as she puts it. I don't understand why she didn't even bother to ask if relinquishment is what this teenager really wants.