My Adoption Story

Tomorrow is National Adoption Day.  On this day, there is a nationwide effort to raise awareness about adoption, and help the more than 110,000 children in foster care find permanent, loving families.

When I was a baby, I was lucky enough to be placed with my permanent family.  My twin brother and I were born to alcoholic and drug-addicted parents.  Our birth father was abusive, which resulted in a trip to the hospital.  The Department of Social Services stepped in, and we were placed in foster care.  Our stay was short-lived, but we were fortunate enough to have a loving, and caring foster-mother.

My parents, who are the two most giving and selfless people I know, already had my older brother through adoption.  They were interested in adopting a little girl.  They contacted the social worker who assisted in my older brother’s adoption to help them find their daughter.

What I understand from my parents, the story goes something like this: the social worker found me and called my parents.  In their conversation she mentioned I was a twin and separating me from my twin brother was an option.  With this in mind, my parents came to meet me.   They also met my twin brother.  As my mother puts it, “you were cute, but your brother was soooo cute and little, we just fell in love with him.” The idea of separating us didn’t bode well for them, and since my brother had them wrapped around his little finger, they adopted us both!

Years later, I sat my parents down and asked them if they would adopt a sister for me.  I was around ten years old.  I wanted a younger sister I could play with.  So, being the amazing parents they are, we searched for my sister.  Lisa came into our lives when she was six years old.  She had been bounced around from foster home to foster home for years.  Her learned skill to detach, coupled with some preexisting conditions she was born with, made it harder for her to acclimate to a permanent family.  It was a long process.  Our situations were different, but the one thing we all had in common, was two selfless and loving human beings who created their family through adoption.

At the age of 39, I searched for my birth mother.  She and my birth father passed away years ago; I never met them. I found this information out from one of my seven brothers and sisters I discovered in my search.  I had no idea I had other siblings in the world (this story will be told in future blog posts.  It’s one of miracles!).  Their upbringings were not easy, and much different than mine.  Had my parents not stepped up to adopt my brother and me, our lives would’ve been starkly different.  I don’t know why God chose us, but I thank him for his favor every day!

If you’re considering adoption or are on the fence, I encourage you to go for it.  Your heart will be forever filled with love, and you will be changing the course of a child’s life for the better!

To learn more about adoption, and how you can become an advocate, click on the National Adoption Day link.

Have a great weekend!

With all the love in my heart,

Maya