What Does it Really Mean to be a Mother? A Birth Mother’s Tale of Adoption, Reunion, Separation and Growth with Kimberly Smythe

Airing Thursday, 17 September 2015, 7:00 PM ET

We’ve all witnessed emotional “adoption reunions” on daytime TV. But we rarely see what happens when the cameras stop rolling. How do two people, related by blood, but separated by circumstance, cope with trying to bridge the gap and forge a relationship after years of separation, while also endeavoring to get past any pain, guilt, blame and suffering each had experienced along the way.

Kimberly Smythe got pregnant at 16 and, certain that a married couple could do more for her beautiful little girl, than she could, gave her child up for adoption. 18 years later, Kim sought out her daughter, but sadly, their reunion was no fairytale.

Letting Go Again is the title of Kim’s book, which chronicles her journey through Adoption, Reunion, Separation and Growth. It’s a searing account that raises important questions about motherhood, the damaging effects of adoption, and our definition of family. In so doing it also challenges our perceptions about relationships, acceptance, surrender, and the true nature of love that finds the strength to let go…again.

About Guest Kimberly Smythe

Kimberly Smythe was born in Madrid, Spain. As a child, she moved home six times in eleven years. After living the nomadic life of an Air Force brat, she spent twenty-six years in Hawaii, which still holds a special place in her heart. She has four grown children, three of whom call her mom.

Kimberly chose to write about her first child, whom she gave up for adoption, so that others might understand what many women endure when circumstances force them to give up their child. Writing about being a birth mother, or as she prefers to call it, a natural mother, helped her in her quest for understanding. She hopes it will also help others understand what it is like to let go of a child, and then be reunited, only to have to let go again. www.lettinggoagain.com