June - I was adopted or in foster care

SaphireSweetie88

Were you adopted or were you in foster care? If so, please tell us more about you and your experiences. 

-Were you adopted, in foster care?

-At what age were you adopted / fostered?

-Do you have contact with your birth family?

-What kind of contact?

-How did you handle knowing you were placed in to a foster home or adoption?

-Any tips from your experience?

-What was your experience, overall?

-Any questions?

-Anything else to add?

- GTKY (get to know you) Favorite guilty pleasure TV show?

SaphireSweetie88

- Were you adopted or in foster care? I was in foster care before being adopted.

- At what age were you adopted / fostered? I was placed into foster care at 18 months while the courts tried to help my biological mother and at the age of 4 my biological mother lost all chances at getting me back and her parental rights were taken away. I was adopted just before my 7th birthday.

-Do you have contact with your birth family? I did have contact with my biological mother until I was 18 and then after a few years I told her it was me or the alcohol (long story) and I haven't heard from her since.

I have 7 other siblings that are biologically related to me but no contact has been attempted.

I contacted my biological father a couple years ago and will write letters to him here and there but I am not in constant contact with him.

A few years ago, I did contact my biological grandparents on my biological dad's side which lead to me meeting a few other family members too. I don't talk to them as often as I would like. 

- What kind of contact? Biological mom = was phone calls and a couple face to face visits / Biological dad = letters (he wants a visit) / Other family = phone calls or Facebook.

- How did you handle knowing you were placed in to a foster home or adoption? I had good times and bad times but ultimately I am thankful for it. With both my biological parents in and out of jail, I am not sure I would be where I am today if I wasn't.

-Any tips from your experience? Lots but the biggest is be patient with a foster / adopted child and be prepared for a (what may seem like it will never end) roller coaster of emotions from the child. Also, the older the child (when adopted or fostered) the longer it will take for them to bond with you.

-What was your experience, overall? I would say very positive. I was definitely blessed with being adopted.

-Anything else to add? Not unless anyone has any questions.

- GTKY (get to know you) Favorite guilty pleasure TV show? Shows like Bachelorette, Bachelor are guilty pleasures for me that I will watch when I am home alone but I watch a lot of other shows too

nicnak22

Were you adopted or were you in foster care? If so, please tell us more about you and your experiences. 

-Were you adopted, in foster care? Adopted not in foster care

-At what age were you adopted / fostered? 10 days old

-Do you have contact with your birth family? I use to - I was adopted as a baby, my adoptive parents are my parents so I thought it was weird  

-What kind of contact? I talked on the phone with my birth mom when I was probably 10 (she suffered from depression and then died when I was maybe 15). I met my 3 biological siblings (small world they lived about 2 miles from me when I met them in my 20s). Met my biological dad in person in early 20s also

-How did you handle knowing you were placed in to a foster home or adoption? My parents always told me I was special that I was adopted because they really wanted me  I never felt different until I met my biological family in person. I never really wanted to meet them they found me.

-Any tips from your experience? Be honest and make sure your whole family is accepting. I have never felt like I wasn’t “blood” my cousins forget most of the time that I’m adopted. 

Also, if you have your own biological kids don’t treat them different. My SIL in laws adopted three kids, one of the boys had a son and they still make comments that they want one of their biological sons to have a son to carryon their family name in front of their grandson with their last name(a**holes)

-What was your experience, overall? Great, I had a wonderful childhood with parents that love me and took great care of me 

-Any questions? Nope

-Anything else to add? Nope

- GTKY (get to know you) Favorite guilty pleasure TV show? Below Deck, RHONY

AnnieR81

@SaphireSweetie88 and @nicnak22 Thanks for sharing your stories. A lot of us are looking to adopt so we appreciate hearing from adults who have been raised by non-biological parents. Good luck to both of you!