Switched at Birth and Kinship Implications Essay - 140

Switched at Birth and Kinship Implications - Essay Example Mary and Norbert Miller were given the biological daughter of Sue and Kay McDonald and vice versa. This paper explores kinship implications of the switch, on the daughters, Sue McDonald and Marti Miller, as well as, the rest of the family unit. After learning about the exchange at the age of 43 years, Sue McDonald, the Millers’ biological daughter, and Marti Miller, the McDonalds’ biological daughter, got to speculate on their relations with both the adoptive and biological families. When Sue got to meet her biological parents, she noted that they were as eager as she was to know her and embrace her as part of the family. However, despite her admiration of the big family she always wanted to be a part of, she could not right away establish a relationship with them, although this has gradually happened over time. She remains close to her adoptive parents than her biological ones and although she is different from the adoptive family by being tall, skinny, and studious, K ay and Sue McDonald remain immensely close to her. However, Sue describes her relationship with her adoptive brother, Bob, as strained, since they did not have anything in common. The rift between them became even larger when Marti came into the picture, because they share a natural social ease, among other attributes (Chicago Public Media and Glass, n.pg). Marti Miller’s case also takes a path almost similar to that of Sue McDonald. She grew up as the sixth born child, in a family of seven children, and stood out from the rest. While all the Miller kids were serious and bookish, she was the jovial one, who engaged in numerous social activities at school including cheerleading. As she speculates on her upbringing as a Miller, she indicates that she was not that close to her adoptive mother, but had a cordial relationship with the parents just like the other kids in the family.