My life as a "chosen" baby.
My name is Margie and I am a very proud mum to 5 gorgeous individuals, one being the gorgeous Meghan.
I was born on June 13 1961 at The Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.
I was the first born to Aileen Fraser and Brian Egan and was given the name AnnMarie Therese Fraser.
My birth mother kept me for the ten days that she was in hospital, then had to hand me over for adoption. In those days there was a seven day cooling off period, so before the end of that time, she came and got me back.
Her parents were totally against this and the pregnancy, as they were strict Catholics. Both my birth parents tried their best to keep me, but were unable to, so at three months of age, I was handed over for adoption.
In September in 1961 I met and went to live with my forever family. I was the youngest of 4, Mum and Dad adopted all four of us. John the eldest, Anne Marie and Peter, the twins and then me. I was given a new name: Margaret Mary Richards.
We lived on a farm in country Victoria and then moved to another farm, in country New South Wales. In 1969, we moved to Geelong, Victoria, where my family still lives.
Growing up, times were tough, but we never went without. The love and care were always on hand and of course, I was daddy's little girl.
I don't know when we were told we were adopted, but it was never hidden from us. In saying that, we weren't treated any different from anybody else. We were their kids, end of story.
I grew up in a home with love, warmth, and rules. I was taught to love and give respect, to work for what I wanted and be kind to others even if they were unkind to me. We were taught not to question mum or dad when they said No. I loved my life.
I wasn't interested in knowing my birth mother until I became a mum myself. After a lot of soul searching, I started the process. It took a while but finally, success!
I discovered that my birth parents had married and had 5 more children, that gave me 4 more brothers and another sister......wow!
Sadly, my relationship with my birth parents and 3 of the boys is almost non existent. I won't give the long, boring story, but it wasn't through not trying.
I have a great, no a fantastic, relationship with my sister and her hubby and daughter and a great relationship with the eldest brother, his wife and their baby son. I don't see them often, but when I do it's good. For those we don't see, my thoughts are "it's their loss".
I have a fantastic family and feel honoured to have been chosen. I believe my life couldn't be better.
