Waiting on the sidelines: Peter Kassig's first mother

Jane

First mother Rhonda Schwindt waited for months for news of her son, Peter Kassig, until she learned from news reports that he had been beheaded by ISIS. Because she was Peter's first mother, not the legal next-of-kin, the U.S. government refused to keep her in the information loop.

Rhonda Schwindt placed Peter as a newborn for adoption with Paula and Ed Kassig, who kept in touch with her over the years, she told Barbara Harrington of Indiana Public Media. Schwindt later married and had two children, Jana and Sam. When Peter turned 18, he asked to meet his first mother, and they were able to reunite within a day. Peter became a part of the Schwindt family and formed a close bond with Jana, 12, and Sam, 10.

On Mother's Day: What does it mean to be not 'ready to parent'?

Basketball MVP Kevin Durant and his Mom

Wanda Pratt, poor, black, young, single raised her son Kevin Durant to be a giant, not only the best player in the NBA, but a man of charity and grace. As he received his MVP trophy, Durant shed tears of thanks for his mother's love and dedication and Pratt shed tears of joy.

As I watched this moving scene, I thought of Sydney Syverson whose essay about giving up her daughter for adoption appeared in the "Less Travelled Roads" column in the Spring edition of Portland, the quarterly alumni magazine of the University of Portland, a Catholic college in Portland, Oregon. Syverson, white, middle class, educated, in her 20's proudly explained that she surrendered her newborn daughter to biological strangers "not only the best

NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's mother speaks of her love for him--and he can't take it.

Colin Kaepernick

Thank you, thank you Heidi Russo for speaking out on behalf of first mothers. And shame, shame on you Colin Kaepernick for not listening. You may be the toughest, cleverest quarterback in years to play for the San Francisco 49ers, but you've fumbled the ball when it comes to accepting love from the woman who gave birth to you. You're getting sacked by your adoptive mother, fearful that somehow having a relationship with your first mother would diminish her.

A Call Kaepernick should make--to his birth mother

AP Photo/Patrick Cummings 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick with his adoptive parents

When I hear anything about the Superbowl that will take over America this evening, my mind wonders over to Colin Kaepernick, and his flat out refusal to meet the mother who gave him life--as well as his athletic ability--Heidi Russo. Kaepernick, for those who haven't been following this sideline drama, is adopted. Heidi Russo has tried to meet him but he has refused to, even though he has the blessing of his adoptive parents, Rick and Rae Kaepernick, to do so.

A son refuses to meet his birth/first mother

Colin Kaepernick 

While parents all over the country felt a special urgency to hug their children after the horror of Newtown, there's one group of parents who can't--those who lost their children to adoption.

Heidi Russo is one of them. Six weeks after her son was born in 1987, she handed him over to a social worker who gave him to Rick and Teresa Kaepernick. Russo's son, Colin Kaepernick, is the starting quarter back of the San Francisco 49ers, and has led them in the NFL playoffs. Kaepernick has rebuffed Russo's attempts to meet him.