It is known that relationships within the family are the most significant ones for any individual. In the video entitled “Dedicated to My Family” (2007), the young girl Nicole explains what the concept of “perfect family” means to her, revealing the details of her personal background throughout the story. I feel that the desire to find happiness and the need to fill the inner emptiness make her urge for a complete and “perfect” family. In the video by MediaThatMatters, Nikole says that “Family is what you make of it” (2007, 00:03:30-00:03:35). It is related to the module as it supports the point of view that such close relationships matter a lot for an individual mental forming (00:03:30-00:03:35). It is demonstrated, in the video, that “family” for the storyteller is not the ones who are her biological parents but ones who are kind to her.
Simultaneously, the article entitled “In France, a Baby Switch and a Lesson in Maternal Love” (2015) by Maïa de la Baume compliments the idea of the importance of the family. It is revealed through the story of switched at-birth children. Ms. Serrano, the mother of one of the daughters, says that “What makes a family is what we build together, what we tell each other,” which also supports the above-mentioned concept from the module (Baume, 2015, para. 9). It is demonstrated, in the article, that “family” is not necessarily people who are relatives by blood, but ones who grow together and build the family every day. I am impressed with the fact that discovering the switching of babies in the past does not affect the well-established relationships in both families. It is possible to state that legal defections of the family, which include reference to a blood relation, are different from personal definitions, which focus mostly on the conduct and participation in one’s life. Therefore, the answer to the question “Who counts as a family” is: any person who behaves to another person as his or her family member.”
References
Baume, M. (2015). In France, a Baby Switch and a Lesson in Maternal Love. The New York Times.
MediaThatMatters. (2007). Dedicated to My Family [Video]. YouTube.