Part 1 ended by mentioning that rapper Darryl McDaniels is probably the most famous LDA. As many of you know, I had the privilege of interviewing Darryl about his adoption story. I was curious about why his adoptive mother had never told him about his adoption.

He shared with me that she kept thinking that she would tell him that he was adopted, but, the "right" time never came. Darryl was doing so well, that she feared upsetting him. Instead, she just kept waiting for that "perfect" time. I asked Darryl if he believed that had he not questioned his adoptive mom about the details of his birth, did he think that she would have ever told him. His reply was that his brother told him that he did not think that she would have. "I don't think that she ever would have," he said.

By the time that Darryl was told of his adoption, he had reached the conclusion that something seemed "missing" in his life. He wasn't quite certain what it was though. When he learned of his adoption, suddenly, it was somewhat of a relief. Then, he understood why he felt as he did.

I wonder how many other LDAs feel as he did, with the shock and trauma he felt, there was also a sense of relief. He did share as well that it was a difficult revelation for him. Right in character though, he did not blame his adoptive mother for not telling him sooner. He understood that her motives were the best.

Here are a couple of other articles about LDAs and their stories. One of these stories says the man reacted only with joy. That seems to be fairly unusual.
Story no. 1 is here. For story no. 2, read here.

Adopting.org has this about LDAs. There are a great deal of excellent articles and information here on this site about LDAs.

The last link that I have to offer about LDA is this one. This link is an presentation by Ron Morgan, which he gave at a Bastard Nation Workshop on the subject. Ron gives a very compelling portrait of the how finding out about his adoption at a later age impacted him.