50/365 - Paul Connolly, The Old Schoolhouse, Swords, Co. Dublin.

Dublin

19 Feb

I’m not just meeting strangers for this project, although the majority of 365 people I interview will be new to me. This week I sat down with my cousin, Paul, as he was keen to share his story with the world.

Paul is 7 years older than me so we didn’t hang out a lot when we were younger. I always thought that he was cool, his bedroom was in the attic, he had dreadlocks and played guitar. I always knew he was adopted (and so did he). It was something that was never really mentioned, never made a big deal about, but not shrouded in secrecy either. Paul wants to chat today to normalise talking about adoption.

“It's about demystifying the whole thing. I think what we're suffering from still is the idea that adoption needs to be a secret. I only know myself and one other person who've publicly announced that they're adopted.”

Paul considers himself very fortunate that when he decided to trace his biological mother, the process was relatively easy, as she too was looking for him, but it’s not something he entered into lightly.

“There are so many different stakeholders who are going to be impacted by this process.

You’re keen, the birth mother is keen. But I've got siblings, I’ve got children, and all of those people need to be considered.”