For some, adoption is something that is not fully understood. People think that adoption only happens when you are in the foster system, and someone decides to make you a part of their family; that isn't always the case. For myself and my siblings, we were adopted by our family today for different reasons.

I was adopted because my birth mother had trouble growing roots in any community that she lived in at the time. She wasn't a drug addict or in trouble with the law; she was just struggling to get by. People don't understand that you don't have to be in foster care to be adopted. Those stereotypes suck. I always hear different questions from people about my adoption: "How old were you?", "Do you know who your parents are?", "Were your parents' druggies?", "Are you from a different country?"

Sure, I love being asked questions, but there are a lot I can't answer which that makes it hard. I love the diversity that my family holds because of our adoption, but we all struggle in our own way with something stemming from our adoption. We love the fact that we are different from other people in our small town; it brings out the diversity that our town desperately needs. Adoption is something that we are proud of and thankful for because without our family now, we wouldn't be where we are today or our futures that have been paved for us from our parents' hard work.