Genes Not Included, the series of stories of where we began

Here lies the first, of many stories to come. This is about a Parent and their child, not genetically connected, although by appearance, you would never know it.  This is, “Genes Not Included”… I am Diane Ponist. I am a mom to 6 children that all have completely different birth stories.  Five of my children, I cannot tell them what it was like when they were born.  I was just simply not there, nor did I know that they existed until much later, after their birth.  I am also a person that did not know that I wanted to really be a parent until my mid 20’s, as in really committing to parenting. I never really had a plan in my life for how I was going to achieve that.  I knew that I wanted to eventually be a parent.  I also knew, I never wanted to physically give birth.   I, myself, was raised by a single mother, not really knowing my father.  I grew up with the feeling of never really knowing one of my biological parents.  What I knew about my second parent, was not very pleasant.  What I