(This story was published in 2007).
Editor’s note: Susan Guest contacted us in July and asked for our help in locating her siblings. She was adopted, and one of the few hints she has gotten about her family is that one of her half-siblings is gay and is the children of a famous football player.
To all gay sports fans,
I just learned I have a half brother and sister who are gay, and they are the children of a famous pro football player! Will you help me find them?
Secrets eat at the soul, and living a dual life is no longer acceptable to me, which is exactly what being born into one family, but being raised by another, is. Adoption can be a good thing when there is no way to keep the child with his or her original family, especially when that child’s grief and confusion over losing their first family is acknowledged, and the differences between the child’s natural tendencies and those of the adoptive family are encouraged with delight. But I believe everyone has the right to know their biological background. Even puppies come with papers!
I was born and given up for adoption in 1963 and have recently begun the search for my birth family. In the course of that search, I learned that my birthmother married a pro football player with whom she had a son and a daughter, and that one or both are gay. My half brother was born in 1969, and my half sister was born in 1975. Both mom and sister are social workers. Mom is no longer married to the football player, and she is currently married to a physician with five stepchildren, all of whom I believe are adults now. Mom would currently be about 61 years old.
I was born in Florida, where the records are sealed unless both parties consent. All I have to go on is what mom told the social worker when she called and said she did not want to be found, and then proceeded to talk for an hour and a half. I think it might be time for us all to come out! While I respect my birthmother’s decision to not be found, I feel that as adults, my half siblings and I have the right to determine on our own whether we want a relationship or not. But first, they have to know I exist. It wouldn’t be a bad thing for mom to unburden her soul either, but she needs to make that decision on her own, and so, for now, I’m just looking for my siblings. My intent is not to harm, but to enrich.
If any of you know a 38-year-old gay son of a famous pro football player with a 32-year-old sister, please get in touch. They deserve to know I exist, and I would like the opportunity to meet someone related to me for the first time in my life.
