My birth father is open-minded and was thrilled when I told him that I had converted to Judaism. He is an author; has a doctorate; and loves philosophy and religion. My Ph.D. is in religion and social ethics. In fact, our entire family is well-degreed; there are 16 college and graduate-school degrees among the five of us (my birth mom, birth dad, two half-siblings, and myself). My birth dad is also sympathetic to animal-rights arguments and only a few crab cakes away from being a vegetarian. Like me, he does volunteer work in his spare time and believes people should formulate their own opinions rather than mindlessly adhere to societal norms.
No one in my natural family is focused on money. No one is a patron of preppiness. No one calls me "kooky" or "defective." And no one claims that I will go to hell for rejecting Christ.
I am glad that I found my biological family. I feel connected. I am no longer an outsider in search of a flock. Although I cannot prove it, I believe our commonalities stem from tiny hereditary units called genes, including our love of all things Jewish.
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Originally published in Kveller on October 3, 2019.
Charlotte Laws is a political pundit on BBC television, a former California politician, and the author of several books, including Undercover Debutante , an award-winning, 2019 memoir about locating her birth family. Charlotte's articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Salon, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, and the Huffington Post. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her three rescue dogs, and her six rescue chickens. You can follow her on Twitter @CharlotteLaws
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