Chapter 6 - THE ADOPTION
Attorney Maya Sloan reviewed the adoption file.
Ryan insisted on facts.
Not family memory.
Not Diane’s version.
Documents from 1992 showed:
Laura signed a formal consent to adoption.
She had an attorney.
The court approved.
No obvious forgery.
Legally, Diane and Thomas became Ryan’s parents.
Maya said:
“This is not a stolen-baby case in the simple sense.”
Ryan did not look relieved.
Then Maya continued:
“But coercion can exist without forged paperwork.”
The harder question:
What had Laura been told?
What information was hidden?
Were threats made?
Was she given meaningful options?
Thirty-five years later, proving legal coercion would be difficult.
Ryan asked:
“Can I undo the adoption?”
Maya looked at him carefully.
“Why?”
He froze.
He did not know.
He wanted the lie undone.
But law could not reverse childhood.
Diane was still the woman who:
held him through fevers,
went to every school conference,
paid his college deposit,
buried Thomas beside him.
Truth did not erase history.
It rearranged it.
Then Maya found something else.
Post-adoption contact clause.
Laura was supposed to receive:
one annual photograph,
a brief written update,
and a forwarding address if Ryan requested contact after eighteen.
Ryan stared.
“I never knew.”
Maya looked at Diane.
“Were the updates sent?”
Diane said:
“For a while.”
“How long?”
No answer.
Ryan closed his eyes.
“Did she write back?”
May you like
Diane whispered:
“Yes.”
