Mothers’ Day: ‘I’m so thankful she chose to let me live’

While Mothering Sunday was originally a day of the year in which people were expected to return to worship at their childhood church, over time the meaning broadened. Young people who lived or worked away from their family would be given the day off to return to visit their families.

Mothers’ Day now is a far more secular affair in which mothers generally are shown appreciation for the hard work and loving sacrifices made in raising their children.

But some mothers, for various reasons, decide to give up a child for adoption. It is a decision increasingly at odds with modern society’s aggressive push for abortion, but one which, for all the drawbacks, allows the child to know life.

Ryan Jon is one such child.

Ryan

In a viral video, the Australian reached out to his own biological mother, whom he has never known, to thank her for allowing him a chance at life.

He knows from a letter she left for him that his birth mother became pregnant unexpectedly and did not feel that she had the time or maturity to look after a child. She wanted her own child to have a better upbringing than she did and made the tough decision to give him up for adoption. The last time she saw him he was just six weeks old.

I’m really happy to exist.

Now in his 30s, Ryan says “I’m really happy I’m here. I know that a lot of women now, when they don’t want a baby, they don’t have a baby”, adding “I’m really happy to exist.”

“My parents, who I now call Mum and Dad, they were told they could not be parents and now they are, so they’re really happy as well.”

‘Thank you for everything’

He wants to take the opportunity to tell his biological mother that she should not feel guilty for her decision, and that he does not resent her for making it, but is thankful for the life he has been allowed to live.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories where women who have given up children for adoption feel really guilty, and sometimes it’s seen as a cowardly thing, and you see in movies the kid finding out and being really upset, but as someone who was adopted, from my point of view it’s the total opposite.

“You’ve given someone the gift of life, you’ve sacrificed your body, your life, for somebody that in 12 months, you know, you won’t even know them.”

Ryan became emotional as he continued: “I’d love to be able to look my birth mother in the eye and just say how thankful I am for literally everything.”

He said he did not want to try and track her down and impose himself on her new life, where perhaps she may now have a husband and other children. He wants to let her live her life in peace without having to deal with awkward questions from a part of her past she may still be ashamed of and perhaps had kept secret for more than 30 years.

His message for his birth mother is: “I don’t expect anything from you, I don’t need you to do anything or contact me. I just wanted to say thank you for everything, and that I hope you have a great Mothers’ Day”.