I know I am a Johnny-Come-Lately, but I finally got to see the movie Juno. I enjoyed the movie very much. How close was the movie to a "real life" domestic infant adoption? I guess that depends upon each individual adoption. It was not that much like mine.

I, personally, would not have felt comfortable with a match that early. Six months is a long time for an expecting mother to bond with her baby. At three months along, I would imagine it is hard to even think of it as a baby. I think a match much later in the pregnancy is the norm and is much more advisable for all involved.

I found it odd that Juno wanted a fully closed adoption after the baby was born but could not seem to stay away from the hopeful adoptive parents' house while pregnant. I would have been completely freaked out if my son's then-expecting mother kept showing up on my doorstep.

I could relate to Vanessa, the hopeful adoptive mother. I, too, worried about the state of my house and how sure the expecting mother was about her decision to place the baby for adoption. I never would have asked an expecting mother the question straight out like Vanessa did, though.

I could relate to not being on the same page as my spouse while going through the adoption process. My husband was definitely not like Vanessa's husband – no aspirations to be Kurt Cobain or anything. However, I was definitely the one driving the adoption, just as Vanessa did. I had to laugh when the husband was unaware about the ads on the newspaper where Juno learned about the couple because my husband was just as clueless.

I did not get the impression that Juno ever bonded with the baby. Yes, she did hold him briefly, but I did not really see much grief. My sister and I got into a debate about this issue. She thinks that the scene with Juno looking sad after the birth (lying in bed with the birth father) was about grieving the baby. I thought it was more about exhaustion from the whole nine months. Regardless, the movie did not get into Juno's grief, which is unlike our adoption. My son's birth mother was an emotional wreck in the hospital, and she cried every day for five weeks after placement.

I think Juno was a great movie for getting people to talk about teen pregnancy and to put the option of adoption on the table. However, I do not think it showed the typical domestic infant adoption experience.

Photo credit: Amazon.com