It's Complicated

“Why did you adopt”?

It’s a question I often get when people find out our son came to us that way.  It’s an understandable curiosity. 

From the outside, it sure doesn’t look like a fertility issue since he arrived after two biological kids, and before another.  (But that is part of the reason).  From the outside, it kind of looks like it’s because we wanted a boy since he’s the only one.  (But that’s really not the reason). 

How do you explain a calling?  How do you explain a feeling, a voice, a push so strong that you almost feel no choice at all?  How do you explain having been so touched by a situation, a knowledge, a chain of events that you are compelled to act out of your comfort zone?  How do you say all that without sounding crazy? 

So usually I just say, “It’s complicated.”