I was adopted. No, it was never a secret that I was adopted. I did not find out in some twisted way that my parents had kept it from me my entire life. I didn't randomly bump into a long lost twin on the street and piece it all together. It was always something that was talked about and known. I even had a book as a child called Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, by Jamie Lee Curtis. I loved that book. As a kid, I used to talk about how I was adopted to my other friends. Lots of people didn't understand, or they told me they were sorry.

I was adopted. No, adopted isn't a dirty word. It is something that happens all over the world to millions of people. In my small pre-kindergarten class, around half the children had been adopted. Why do people suddenly "feel bad" for me when they find out that I was adopted? Adoption is a beautiful thing. The people who conceived me were not ready, could not afford to give me the life that I deserved, or just didn't want children, allowed my parents to finally have a child of their own.

I was adopted. My "real" parents are the parents who have raised me and taken care of me my whole life. No, I do not know my birth parents, and that is okay. I respect them and their decision to pass me along to my parents. My parents have loved me from before I was born and have continued to love me my entire life. They have raised me as any parent would. They have loved me as I was their own flesh and blood. My mom and I always laugh because people always tell us that we look alike and how they can just tell that we are mother and daughter.

I was adopted. Sometimes it's hard. There are a lot of things we don't know such as family medical history. I have said the words, "I am not sure, I was adopted" to a dozen different doctors. It is hard not to know where you come from and what your background is. But sometimes the unknown is interesting. I find out different things all the time. In the past year, I took an Ancestry DNA test and learned where my ancestors are from. I was surprised and excited to hear my results. When you know nothing about your background, things like that are super exciting.

I was adopted. I was once told by a peer of mine when I was younger that the reason I was adopted was that I was unwanted. They were wrong, I was wanted more than anything by my parents. I was the daughter that they were meant to have. The universe brought us together for a reason.

I was adopted, and I am thankful for it. I was given to the greatest parents I could have ever asked for.