Growing Up Adopted - YAY ME!

One of my sayings in life is I was adopted and proud of it! Being adopted is awesome! My theory on adoption is simple. Us, adopted kids, have six parents: Our Heavenly Parents, Our Birth – Parents, and my parents. With all these people we have so much extra love than the people with only four. I grew up always knowing that I was adopted. In my opinion EVERY child needs to grow up with this knowledge. Seriously, if you don’t tell them it will ruin your relationship with your child. Plus, they won’t get out of those genetic science assignments.

Growing up adopted was cool. I’m just a normal person. Every child has to come to terms with adoption. So, while coming to terms with being adopted I had this special baby blanket given to me which was made by my birth mother which says, "made with love!" A special letter was also given to me. These gifts always remind me of how much I am extra loved. I sometimes wonder how come people don't always understand how incredible adoption is, that adoption means just an extra bundle of love. Adoption is amazingly AWESOME!

Sometimes I would feel like I was the only one in the whole world that was adopted but, then I would meet other kids my age who were too. We would instantly feel this amazing connection, like being members of a select, exclusive club. This past summer I learned my roommate at EFY was adopted too and we just totally hit it off and had a lot of the same opinions about being adopted. (She always felt grateful she was adopted. And was blessed with a very cool family! Her family was of different nationalities.) We also had grown up with similar experiences. It was really great being able to relate with someone at that level. We both were raised strong in the gospel and because of that we both have strong testimonies. Just a side note...(She is an amazing missionary. She says that she is always telling everyone about the gospel. She even asked these two guys on campus while we were at EFY, what they were doing that Sunday, and asked if they wanted to go to Church? They said "yes!" She asked them if they wanted to meet with the missionaries and learn more about what we believe. They said "yes!" They contacted the missionaries to meet with them. She was an awesome example to me and I'm glad we were roommates at EFY.)

Anyway, back to the subject of adoption. While going through understanding adoption, I came across this song which really helped me comprehend adoption. It's called "You Are Loved" by, Josh Groban...and he has an amazing voice so, I’ll play it for you now (it's on my music list)

I just want to express how thankful I am for my birth mother. I know that she still loves me and cares for me and that is why she gave me to my parents. She gave me the most precious gift of life and she gave me my amazing parents! There isn’t a day that I am not thankful for her sacrifice. It reminds me of the scripture in John 3 :16. (For my birth mother so loved me that she gave me, her first born, to a home with both a mother and father to be sealed to for all eternity!) To close I’d like to read this Poem and I thought it was pretty fantastic. The name of it is:

Legacy of an Adopted Child


Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother.
Two different lives, shaped to make you one.
One became a guiding star; the other became your sun.
The first gave you life and the second taught you to live in it.
One gave you nationality; the other gave you a name.
One gave you a seed of talent; the other gave you an aim.
One gave you emotions; the other calmed your fears.
One gave you up…it was all that she could do.
The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.
And now you ask, through your fears.
The age old questions, unanswered through the years.
Heredity or environment…which are you the product of…
Neither my darling…neither.
Just two special kinds of love.