I've heard a lot of adoptees on TikTok talking about how adoption is an inherently traumatic process, and I definitely think there's something to that argument. Separation from your biological parents, whether it was ultimately for the best or not, can have devastating and lifelong effects. These vocal adoptees come up against a lot of people who criticize that position, saying that they should be grateful that they were adopted at all and didn't spend their whole childhoods in foster care. But people who get indignant about adoptees' supposed ungratefulness are rarely adoptees themselves, nor do they prioritize the well-being of the adopted child over the desires of the adoptive parent. The stepdad in this story is one of those people who thinks his stepson should be grateful for the fact that he raised him after his dad passed away and should let him adopt him to satisfy his unfulfilled parental desires.
This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.