Soon it will be Mother’s Day and I hope everyone takes time to recognize the moms in their life.
“Mom” means so much more than just women who give birth.
We are all lucky to have moms in our lives. Every woman who has helped shape our lives is important and needs to be celebrated.
Motherhood means so many different things, and that can bring special meaning to Mother’s Day.
Oprah Winfrey has said, “Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother.” That is true in so many instances.
I do not have kids and I do have an awesome mom, but I also have an awesome sister, grandmothers, aunts, cousins and friends who are amazing female role models for me.
I am lucky to still have many of these role models in my life, especially my mom, but for a lot of people that is not the case.
“Mom” for some people was another female member of the family who took up the role because their own mother could not. That person could be a grandmother, aunt, a sister or even a friend.
Even in cases when “Mom” is not the woman who gave birth to a person, they can celebrate the women who raised them just the same.
I know many moms who became mothers through adoption and fostering. In some ways, becoming a mother this way shares a little bit with pregnancy, as their choice was something they thought about and worked hard for and then waited for their child to arrive. These women we also celebrate on this day celebrating motherhood.
In Canada, adoption affects the lives of one in five people, whether they were adopted themselves or have adopted a child, according to Statistics Canada.
“Today, that means almost seven million Canadians are affected by adoption,” according to the Adoption Council of Canada.
Over 78,000 children are in the foster care systems in Canada with 30,000 being eligible for adoption, according to the council’s website.
Most of these children are over the age of six.
Adoption Council of Canada encourages people to think about adoption. “These children need permanent homes and are rewarding additions to the families who adopt them.”
Stepmothers also have a unique role and relationship with children they are mothering but did not give birth, too. Building that relationship takes strength.
No matter what narrative is your own, to all mothers out there, we celebrate you, we appreciate you, and we love you.
