It is really sad to hear that Steve Jobs died. I never met him but I had seen him in person at one of Pixar’s wrap party. I forgot which movie. But it was when Steve Jobs was still CEO of Pixar. I remember seeing him on stage of the movie theater wearing a black top and blue jeans while the other men on stage wore tuxedos.
After Steve Jobs passed away, I just found out that he was adopted. I find it fascinating to read true stories about an adopted child who had grown up to be a very successful person. His story reminds me of the animation movie Meet the Robinsons where a boy gets adopted by the Robinsons family and became a great inventor.
I have great hopes for my son. Nathan may grow up to be a famous doctor who found a cure for AIDS, President of the US, famous sports player, a Software QA Engineer like his mom or IT nerd like his dad 🙂 If he will end up not being any of those I mentioned, I hope he will be successful and happy with his life.
I am a member of this adoption support group called China Expedited Referral Group (CERG). Since my husband is Chinese, we qualify to be in this group. One of our members emailed the group after she watched the story of Steve Jobs. On TV, she heard the reporter say that Steve Jobs was an ‘Unwanted Child’. This member got very offended with the use of ‘Unwanted’ child. She felt that the word was too harsh to describe children who were given up by their biological parents. After hearing ‘Unwanted’ child on TV, this member will write to the TV show to let them know that the use of ‘Unwanted’ child was totally inappropriate.
So far, after reading Steve Jobs story over the internet or watching it on TV, I haven’t heard someone use the word ‘Unwanted’ child. My husband and I adopted Nathan. If I heard ‘Unwanted’ child on TV, I would not be that sensitive about it and write to the TV show to tell them that it was wrong to use that word. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If she is infuriated about it, then perhaps she should voice her feelings to that TV show.
In my opinion, I feel that there are some people who never wanted their own child. I am sure that some of the reasons that parents give up their child are due to poor living situation, financial hardships and/or the inability to take care of a child with a disability/special need. Then there are some other people who never wanted that child (healthy or not healthy) in the first place. They will eventually put up the child for adoption or worst case kill that child. So if I hear someone say ‘Unwanted’ child, I would not get offended by it because I believe that certain people don’t want their biological child.