Adoption

The greatest gift

Dubbo Photo News 12.06.2013

By Alexandria Kelly

More than 32 years later, and with a thousand kilometres separating them, Natasha Wheatland is still the apple of her mother’s eye.

Her mother is Sandra Sense who fondly remembers bouncing baby Natasha on her knee, her first day of school and sharing her wedding day. But the memory she holds closest is the first day she met Natasha. Dressed in a marked white top at just six weeks old, Natasha was the baby that Sandra and her husband Bruce had been waiting to adopt for five years.

“It was incredible”, Sandra shared with Dubbo Photo News this week. “We put her in an outfit we’d bought for her and she just looked like a little angle – the bonding was instant.

Growing up, Natasha always knew she was adopted – Sandra and Bruce opted for an honest and open relationship on the subject – and part of that was using the available support groups to prepare Natasha for getting in touch with her birth parents.

“Natasha’s birth mother gave us a gift, and I always wanted to thank her for that, “Sandra said.

Thanks to a very unique set of circumstances, in 1998 Sandra got to do just that. It took just four hours from the time Natasha found her birth mother’s name to their first conversation.

Fifteen years later Natasha has a lovely relationship with her birth mother and Sandra has made a life-long friend.

Sandra will be sharing her story as a guest speaker at the Benevolent  Society’s Adoption Connections Meeting on Wednesday June 19, at the Western Plains Cultural Centre, commencing at 6pm.

With one in four Australians involved in adoption, the meeting aims to  bring together adoptees, parents and any other family who have been affected in a supportive environment, with the opportunity to meet others in the same situation.

If you’re interested in attending you can contact Natalia on 1300 659 814 to RSVP