They Were About to Split Up Five Kids Under Seven. The One Man Willing to Take All Five Knew Exactly What That Does to a Child

My eyes have blurred over.

I don’t wipe them.

I want him to see them.

“I carried that for twenty years,” I say.

“The belief that I wasn’t worth keeping.

That’s what a placement split gives a child, underneath all the paperwork.

Not a fresh start.

A lifelong quiet certainty that they are easy to give away.”