Trust is a huge issue for all of us in the adoption constellation. Adoptive parents must trust that their children will accept them as their "real" parents, even as these children search and reunite with their original families. Adopted people must trust that their universe won't explode again and that they won't be "sent back to the orphanage." And birth parents, especially our mothers, must trust that all will work out before, during, and after reunion and that they won't be shamed again for doing their best at the time of relinquishment.