'Everything I wish I could say to my son's birth mother.'

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Five years ago, our worlds collided when you gave birth to our son. I can only imagine what you went through on the day that he was born. I can only imagine the thoughts and feelings that you experienced as your world changed. I can only imagine how your body and heart felt when you left the hospital without him in your arms.

I wish that I could have been there to support you, to encourage you and to help you feel like you were not alone. If I had known what you were going through on that day, I would have dropped everything to stand beside you in those moments. Our lives probably would never have intersected if it weren't for the decision you made to place him for adoption. How different all of our lives would have been, if you had chosen a different path.

Watch: Charlize Theron on adopting her daughters. Post continues below.

There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of you. There is not a day that goes past that I am not fundamentally reminded of my place in the world because of you. My thoughts are filled with love and gratitude for you, a person I have never met, but someone who has changed my life forever. I am also acutely aware that with the gift you have given me, comes pain, sorrow and loss.

Most days I am able to hold all of these feelings simultaneously; to hold the joy with the sorrow. It is with great hope that I am strong enough to be able to guide and support him through those feelings as well.

We talk about you often, and as he grows, I hope that he will be able to understand that he is the link between you and me. I hope that he will be able to see how unbelievably special he is, and that his existence is grounded in love, sacrifice and compassion. That he is loved by the two of us, his two mothers. You, the mother that was his first home, who gave him life, brought him into the world and ultimately entrusted another woman, a stranger, to raise him.

With that choice, I became a mother too. I am the mother who nurtures, the one who organises his life and his internal world, who rejoices in his happiness, achievements and growth, and comforts him when he is sick, sad and hurt. I am the mother who rides the rollercoaster of life with him through all the twists and turns, who will support him when he is ready to venture out on his own.

If it wasn't for you, I would not have been given the chance to be a mum. I would not have experienced what it is like to love a small human with all of my heart, to love so deeply that sometimes it hurts. If it wasn't for you, I would not have had the honour of watching him grow and explore the world over the past five years, to see life from a new perspective and be able to witness him find his place in the world.

He is shaped by the two of us, his two mothers. He will be shaped by the combination of nature and nurture, by his roots and his environment, by the mother who gave him life and the mother who walks beside him through it.

As he grows, I hope he will be able to form a complete identity and see both the foundation and the support he has had along the way. I hope that he is able to see the traits that have come from you — from his genetics — in himself, as well as the habits and values that he has been shown.

I hope that I am able to be the mother that you wanted for him, the mother that you hoped I would be for your son.

I hope that wherever you are, you have found peace, that you are content, and that you have been able to find passion for life. I hope that you have the support and love around you to be able to process the decision that you have made, and that life has been kind to you while you heal.

I want you to know that he is safe, he is cherished, and he is supported. Most of all, I want you to know that he is thriving, and that he is loved unconditionally.

All of my love and heart,

Your son's mother

Listen to Mamamia No Filter. Anne Stephens (mother of Mamamia's Clare Stephens and Jessie Stephens) was twenty-two and finishing her teaching degree when she discovered she was pregnant. She could give the baby the life she wanted for him. 37 years later, he found her.

Feature Image: Getty.