Thank you for reading and responding. I think a few things need to be clarified: Adoption can be the right decision for all involved AND be traumatic. I did not -nor have I ever said that "adopted kids would absolutely be better off if they were raised by their biological family." Never. I've never said that about myself. What I have said, is that facets of adoption - e.g. the primal wound from maternal child separation and a lack of genetic mirroring, are traumatic. I have also said repeatedly in my writing and public discourse, that the dominant cultural narrative of adoption as a better life is based on hope. All adoption can guarantee is a different life. My writing is meant to demonstrate the complex, nuanced, paradoxical, and under-discussed aspects of life as an adoptee. Your take on this essay reduces the conversation to an either/or; that is exactly what I am hoping to avoid. Adoption is many things at once. Just like adoptees.