I was adopted when I was 4 days old. It was an open adoption with my birth mother, so I have known her my whole life. I never really knew what this meant. I remember when I was five, a girl in my kindergarten class said, “My mom told me that you’re adopted.” Of course, I didn’t know what that meant. I thought it was an insult. I didn’t know how wrong I was. I went home and asked my mom what it meant. She explained it to me, but my young mind couldn’t comprehend that my mom gave me away. I was hurt and sad.
As I got older, I finally started to understand how awesome it is to be adopted. My birth mother had another daughter, who I now have an amazing relationship with. I love knowing them.
My birth father, on the other hand, wasn’t as involved. He stopped showing up to visits and went and had another family. I didn’t find any of this out until last summer. I just always thought he was never in my life. I also learned that he went to jail and his children are back in Cincinnati, where I live, and the most amazing thing happened: His kids wanted to meet me and they were excited to have an older sister! Now, that’s a lot of pressure on me. An 11-year-old girl who has always wanted an older sister to look up to and a 16-year-old boy who was excited to have a sibling close to his age? That’s scary. I was terrified to meet them. While driving there I cried quite a bit. I was about to meet the people that my birth father left me for. So many thoughts were running through my head. Luckily, my birth mother said she would come with me to meet them. Having someone with my best interest at heart there with me helped me so much.
We went to dinner together and it was crazy. They’re only my half-siblings, but they are so much like me. We immediately hit it off. This happened in August, right before I left for school, so there wasn’t much pressure to have a relationship right away, but once I met them, I knew I wanted them in my life. Since I met them, I have seen them a few times and talk to them quite often. Going into the meeting, I never thought I would have such a good relationship with them. My birth father’s actions don’t reflect on his kids. My siblings are amazing and unique, and I’m so glad that I met them.
Now, I understand that most people might not be able to relate to my exact story, but there are quite a few people who are adopted. What I want you to take from this is that people can really surprise you. My family grew a lot this summer and I’m so happy that it did.