As you turn eighteen today,

I still remember when I gave you away.
 

There will always be a special bod between us,

One that no one can replace.
 

A bond between a mother and her child,

That we all must face.
 

Throughout these years, as you have grown;

About being adopted, you have learned and known.
 

A decision for you which I have made,

Though my love for you certainly will never fade.
 

Every day which goes by,

I think of you and want to cry.
 

It’s not a virtual decision to give up your child,

But it’s a decision a mature woman must make, whether or

not her heart will break.
 

I did not want to hold you back,

From any opportunity you could have had.
 

A chance at life that could never be -

If I had kept you to live here with me.
 

You have a mother, and you have a father,

No more could they have asked for.
 

‘Cause when you were born, it was I,

Who opened to them, a new door.
 

A child they tried for so hard and so long,

And then little darling you came along.
 

So, as you celebrate your eighteenth birthday today,

Please have it known that:
 

I loved you so,

I gave you away.

~ Justine Doerner