The ‘Real’ Thing
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
You dont’ have to be adopted to know that prying into a family’s genetics is rude.
By Jeanne Marie Laskas
Sunday, February 27, 2005; Page W35
Washington Post
One of the grandmothers, a gentle woman in her sixties, turns to me and says, “Are your girls real sisters?”
I look at her. We’re at a birthday party. It’s a large one, kids everywhere, pizza boxes half-empty, giant cake decorated with Ninja Turtles about to be cut. Noise level: elevated. My girls, who were both adopted as infants from China, are in this mix, the 3-year-old chasing the 5-year-old, who is tackling the boy she calls her boyfriend.
Now, this grandmother. She often shows up at the birthday parties. She’s been a part of this group since preschool, as have I. I’m taken aback that the question I so often get from strangers should come from someone I know.