I come from a family of seven. All of us are adopted, and four are biologically related. Two sisters and a brother and sister. We all are different: one black (me), four white (the biological siblings) and two are biracial. I happen to be the middle child. We are all different in many ways, but there is one thing that we have in common: our love for our forever home.

There are a lot of things that people assume they know but really they don't know about unless told. And these are just a few.

1. Foster care

For most adopted kids, adults don't go through the Foster Care system. It's usually right out the womb or from a different country. But for those who do, it's not fun. Being jerked from home to home. Wondering if you'll ever find a home. None of it is fun at all. We may seem happy, but really we are hoping and wishing adoption will come for us. Like the movie "Annie" (2015) Foster care is not what people think it is. It is not all fun and games. A kid could be put with many different kinds of families. A child could be put with a family that just wants the money, they could be put with a family who doesn’t care about the child at all, or they could be put with a family who really loves the child. It all just depends on the parent(s).

2. Explaining who your parents are

Many people think that it’s just okay to go up to someone and ask them about their biological parents, but in all honesty it is not okay at all. It’s hard. People ask you thirty million questions. Who's your mom? Where's your dad? Those are your parents? Your parents are white? These are just a few people get.

For some people, talking about their "biological" parents is hard. I know it is for me. Being asked these questions can sometimes hurt someone's feelings or make them silent. It's not that we don't want to tell you, it's simply that we want to put the past behind us. I just tell people that I have my family and that's all I need. It takes a lot for someone to open up about just being adopted or in the system.

3. Finding a home

People assume that kids get adopted super fast. But that's just not how it works. You could live in a foster home that you love and be jerked right out it. Not only do the parent(s) have to be comfortable with you, but the child has to be comfortable with the parents. The child is the one in need of a home, not the future parent(s). That child has to not only be comfortable, but feel safe, feel welcomed. Most importantly, feel like it's their forever home! It's not easy going from home to home and being yanked right out.

4. The paychecks

Yes, they get paid to foster and adopt a kid. Every month, a paycheck comes in the mail. This paycheck is written out to the child. Not the Foster mom or the parent, the child! These checks are supposed to be used for food, clothes, toys, school supplies, sports and any doctor bill that the insurance doesn't cover. Once a child is adopted, you can file to continue to revive the money for that child, for extra things the child may need. A lot of foster parents take these checks for granted and that kid never sees a penny of it. My parents always made sure that we saw it, rather it was in food or school clothes it was being spent on us. Most parents don't do that at all.

5. Christmas

Christmas is the hardest time of the year for a foster child. Your Christmas gifts come from the child service center you are working with. You get a huge basket of different things and you're happy and everything. But for most kids that is all they get. Most families won't even take the time to go out of their way and buy that child/children a gift or two. My parents made sure that they at least gave us stocking stuffers. Christmas is not about just the gifts, but to that kid who sits there and watches the other kids get more gifts, it is just a sad thing.

6. Opening Up

To talk about being adopted or in the foster care system is very hard. Some people are open from the beginning about foster care or being adopted, but others just are not. You just never know if someone will laugh at you or treat you differently or just simply try to understand.

Being open about being in the system is actually a lot harder than talking about being adopted. Being in the system is harder to talk about for the simple fact that everyone knows that something bad happened to you or your parents to even be put in the system. It is not easy talking about it because you always get the question “So why are you in foster care?” And honestly that is not something people like to talk about just out the blue. Being adopted is easier to talk about because with that, you can shorten the story and leave out all the other things people would rather hear. So if you ask someone about it, just be respectful about it.

7. Adoption

You did it. You are someone’s child. You are now no longer in the system! You don't belong to the government! Being adopted is the best time of a foster child's life! It’s like Christmas all over again. It's like getting your favorite toy at the store. It's your forever home! Now you can just live life! The feeling that you get seeing those papers signed, hearing the judge speak of you as “their child” is a feeling no one else in the world, besides someone else who has been adopted, will never be able to feel.