I’ve moved on from Game to Thrones to Broadchurch, a Netflix series. This may turn out to be another SPOILER if you haven’t watched it! I wonder if being addicted to TV mysteries like these is a genetic trait? In this case, it’s a British series with only 3 complete seasons, so I won’t be spending as much time in “Latimer World” as I did in “Lannister World.” Once I get out of these fictional universes, I then focus on the very real “Bannister World,” full of mysteries about my adoption and yet to be factually confirmed birth parents. In Season One of Broadchurch, there are plenty of reminders about adoption, as two of the main murder suspects in Danny Latimer’s death struggle with their own relationships as mother and separated-at-birth child. 

Susan Wright, a resident of Broadchurch, is the mother and Nige Carter her estranged son, who could not accept the fact that he came from this woman. She was married with two girls and her husband, Nige’s birth father, was an electrician by trade. He frequently raped his older daughter and this eventually led to murder, once the younger daughter was similarly attacked. Susan was pregnant at the time of his arrest, and was unjustly accused of allowing the sex to take place in their home. As a result, Social Services took the baby at birth, claiming she was unfit for motherhood. The sleazy husband then hung himself in a prison cell ten months later. Susan apparently tried to explain these circumstances to Nige, but sadly caught him off-guard with this shocking news; the reason he was adopted. He did not believe her story, so their follow-up encounters were strictly arguments, and each accused the other of killing Danny Latimer. Susan has packed up her mobile home and moved away from town, so I expect to get more background on this developing conflict in later episodes. I’m, of course, hoping for a joyful reunion, but they’ll probably end up killing each other. 

Yes, it’s another soap-opera, with Nige infuriated with Susan’s statement of “you’ve got him in you,” implying that genetics was the reason he was a murderer. This is probably one of the worst case scenarios for any adoptee who wonders why they were given up by the mother? In this situation, Nige was not a bastard child nor necessarily unwanted. However, there are probably too many true-life instances where the child was an undesirable product of rape. There were times when I personally worried about these very circumstances that all too often end up with denial of any involvement or disinterest in reuniting. After all, who wants to be reminded of a horrible experience, by having that unwelcome child show up on your doorstep decades later? I still have hope that I was the result of an embarrassing one-night-stand between two people who were attracted to each other, rather than an ugly encounter. Embarrassment can also be a reason for denial, as is the current state of my birth mother’s reaction to any inquiries.

I have gotten into serious trouble a few times in my life, but nothing that would intentionally hurt or abuse another individual. I hope this means that whatever genes I inherited were honorable, and that no genetic evil is in me. It’s disturbing thoughts like this that make me eager to get my adoption issues resolved. I want to know what is inside me and the reasons that I exist. Sometimes it’s as little as a silly television drama to stir these feelings of insecurity. I need to know the truth, and regardless of the answer, I’m still simply glad to be alive, and not living in troubled Broadchurch!