Asking Eric: My child’s grandmother loves to hear her adoption story, even if it’s a bit off

Dear Eric: I really enjoy your column and could use some advice on tact and kindness. My spouse and I adopted our child when she was about one week old. Her birth mother arrived at the hospital on drugs and without any plan for the baby. She signed away her rights but took no part in selecting us to be our child’s parents.

An adoption agency selected us after the birth, and we jumped at the opportunity. The birth mother died of a drug overdose shortly thereafter. We never met her.