My mother remarried when my eldest half-brother was eleven.
My birth father wanted to adopt my mother’s three children from her previous married.
My half-brother met his birth father for lunch and asked him, “Do you approve of my step-father adopting me?”
His birth father told him yes.
And my half-brother said, “This is not your choice to make. I am still your son, and I always will be. You cannot erase your presence from my life. I am yours.”
The adoption question was never brought up again. And I understand my half-brother’s point. We only get one birth father in this world, and for many children they need to hold onto that attachment, even after divorce and remarriage.
What a mature decision by a young boy.