Adopted.

As many of you know, I am adopted.

When I talk about my family, they aren't my blood, but they are still my family. Lately, today especially I have been thinking a lot about "family". If you know me, you know that family means a lot to me and I choose them over all.

With every year that passes and every birthday I have it becomes more and more apparent to me who really matters. My birth parents claim me when it's convienient for them. Why? Am I not good enough? What could I have possibly done in my Twenty-Four years of life to make you despise your OWN CHILD to the point where you brag about me to your friends but talk to me twice a year? I will never understand that.

You don't care. I am the outcast. I am not your favorite. But you know what? I am important too. I have feelings and I enjoy things and want to do things with my life. Does it matter to you? No.
It's something that has bothered me almost all my life but even more now. My own biological parents. The people who created me: can only acknowledge and talk to me when it's convienient for them. This is a sad reality I live in. It bothers me that I am not cared for by the people that brought me into this world. It breaks my heart and stings to my core.

When I'm going through a rough time the first people to see if I'm okay are my adoptive parents. Recently, I have been going through kind of a hard time and I told my biological parents about it and guess what? They didn't care. Not at all. They didn't even have the decency to ask me if I was alright. How are you doing? Is everything okay? What do you need? Nothing. They haven't talked to me in months which makes me wonder: am I even important to you at all?

Someday, when I have a family of my own, I will never make them feel the way I have felt most of my life. They will always know I am there for them when they need me. I won't turn my back on them and I will be involved in their lives. I will support their passions and I will be their number one fan. They will never have to wonder or doubt their importance to me.

"Family is not always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you no matter what."

While my birth parents may not be around to support me, I have a very stable connection with my "family". My "adoptive" parents always support me, constantly let me know that I am loved and are proud of the person I have become. My siblings constantly talk about their "cool older sister" to their friends and accept me as a part of their family. I couldn't have asked for a better support system or family.

So before you tell someone that if they aren't blood they aren't family, maybe think about what your words can do. The impact they can have on someone who doesn't have a "blood" family. I am human too, I want to be loved and accepted by my family just like anyone else. I do not believe that family is only blood and I never will.

Family is what you make it. My mom may not have given birth to me but she is still my mom. My parents may not have raised me since birth but they are still my parents. I may not have seen my siblings be born or been there for their early years, but they are still my siblings.

I am thankful every day for the family I do have. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have never felt as much love and support as I do from a family that is not biologically mine.

I am loved. I am doing great. I have a family that means the world to me. And most importantly: I am accepted as one of their own.


Sincerely,
I'm Adopted.