Clara, the Early Years by Margo Kaufman

Author:Margo Kaufman [Kaufman, Margo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82462-2
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-09-04T16:00:00+00:00

Under Clara’s Radar

On an overcast Monday morning in January, at the uncivilized hour of 8:00 A.M., Clara’s worst nightmare commenced. Yawning, Duke and I sat around the breakfast table and made polite conversation with our guest—Betty, an unflappable middle-aged social worker. Clara perched on my knee, paws on the place mat, and attempted to move the plate of smoked salmon closer to her mouth through telekinesis. Suddenly, Betty looked into the pug’s eyes and in the soothing, slightly patronizing voice you’d use to talk a lunatic down from a high building, asked, “Clara, are you prepared to share your mommy’s lap?” I visibly startled.

Duke rolled his eyes. “Clara isn’t a good sharer,” he said.

Betty put down her poppy-seed bagel and put her nose up to the pug’s wrinkled brow. “You’ll have to make a few adjustments, now, won’t you, dearie?”

Clara panted so furiously that her foul breath fogged Betty’s tortoiseshell glasses.

I stroked her back and murmured, “Don’t worry, Clara. You won’t suffer.” I thought, “Damn, this is what I get for hanging out in cyberspace.”

It was an accident that lends truth to Freud’s axiom that there are no accidents. I was lallygagging on America Online (back in the days when it was possible to log on at will without getting a busy signal for a couple of hours). I must have clicked on the wrong icon because like a time traveler I touched down in an unfamiliar culture. “Welcome to the Adoption Forum,” flashed brightly colored letters on my screen. I scrolled past reunion registries, adoptive-parenting support groups, and search boards until I saw a menu option that piqued my curiosity—international adoption. Idly, I double-clicked and up popped a roster of choices that I normally associate with a travel agent. Latin America? China? Vietnam? Korea? Philippines? Russia? I hadn’t been so awestruck since I heard my first Rodgers and Hart musical. When I finally logged off, bleary-eyed, two hours later, my head was reeling from visions of infants trapped in orphanages around the world who desperately needed a loving home.

Please don’t write me letters. I realize that there are many children in the United States in similar predicaments, but domestic adoption struck me as an express ticket to the Jenny Jones show. I had seen Losing Isaiah. I had followed the Baby Richard case. I had heard overwrought couples at cocktail parties describing how they made scrapbooks and placed ads in the newspapers of small Southern towns, hoping to attract the attention of a pregnant teenager—preferably president of her class or at least head cheerleader—who was willing to give up her child. They flew the aforementioned cheerleader to Los Angeles, took her to Disneyland, bought her star football-player boyfriend a big-screen TV, set her up in the Oakwood Apartments, and paid all her medical expenses, only to have her change her mind at the last minute or, worse, five years down the road, sue them for custody. And I thought, “Not for me.”

By contrast, according to my cybersources, international adoption

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.