A good spot for a adoptive family to meet with bios

[Anonymous]

My son's bio parents would like to visit with him this summer and I am unfamiliar with the area. They have only lived in DC for about a year and we are in PA. Can anyone recommend a park or location around Frederick or a little south of there that would be family friendly but still allow us to observe social distancing? We'd like a spot without a playground, maybe a state park with a creek? Any ideas are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

If you are meeting them have them decide. Do they have transportation or easy access to allocations?

[Anonymous]

Greenbrier state park. Go early in the morning, they stop letting people in if it gets too full.

[Anonymous]

Never. No good will come from this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never. No good will come from this.

How sad for your kids. We see/talk to some of my child's relatives and they are great. I email with them a few times a week.

[Anonymous]

A populated place. Not too remote.

One of the reasons I adopted from abroad as I did not want to deal with this situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Greenbrier state park. Go early in the morning, they stop letting people in if it gets too full.

Thank you for the Greenbirier suggestion. I will check it out.

We agreed to open adoption and we are fine meeting up with them. We email back and forth throughout the year. We offer her to see him every once and awhile, however, this is only the second time she has expressed interest. The first time he was 2, he is now 6. He understands he is adopted and he enjoys reading her emails and seeing their pictures. i think he is looking forward to meeting them again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are meeting them have them decide. Do they have transportation or easy access to allocations?

Transportation is not a problem. I will definitely check and see if they have any suggestions but if they don't (since they are fairly new to the area), I wanted to be able to make a few suggestions too. One of my friends suggest Cunningham Falls but their is fee to park, which I'd hate for them to have to pay, plus I think it's an expensive fee for out-of-staters and a little too north for meeting half way. I'm hoping we do most of the distance driving. Just trying to make it as easy on them as possible.

[Anonymous]

Bakers Park in Frederick. A little canal and a big public park.

[Anonymous]

OP, kudos yo you for keeping the adoption open and keeping your child my biological parents in his life. SO much good will come of this. Adoption trauma is so little talked about and keeping those connections with his genetic family, when possible, can be so helpful to ameliorate that pain and help with identity formation. You are a great mom.

[Anonymous]

How old is your son? You want a good mix of things to do in case conversation stalls, but also not too many distractions or over stimulating things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your son? You want a good mix of things to do in case conversation stalls, but also not too many distractions or over stimulating things.

Sorry, I just saw your reply that he is 6. When my sister visited her bio mom, we often brought art materials to the park. They would make 2 pieces of art together and each take one home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is your son? You want a good mix of things to do in case conversation stalls, but also not too many distractions or over stimulating things.

Sorry, I just saw your reply that he is 6. When my sister visited her bio mom, we often brought art materials to the park. They would make 2 pieces of art together and each take one home.

OP here, That's a great idea! His birth mother is very artistic and if he puts a little effort into his projects he shows promise too. I think she would love this.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for doing this! --a bio mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Greenbrier state park. Go early in the morning, they stop letting people in if it gets too full.

Thank you for the Greenbirier suggestion. I will check it out.

We agreed to open adoption and we are fine meeting up with them. We email back and forth throughout the year. We offer her to see him every once and awhile, however, this is only the second time she has expressed interest. The first time he was 2, he is now 6. He understands he is adopted and he enjoys reading her emails and seeing their pictures. i think he is looking forward to meeting them again.

For what it’s worth one of my best friends was adopted 40 years ago. His birth mom was 15 when he was born and as she herself became an adult she grew closer and closer to him. He is still in close touch with her as are his parents. His adoptive parents are and always will be his mom and dad (she’s his “birth mom”).