❤ My Adoption Story and Experience ❤ (I'm Adopted! Part 2)

Hello to you all!
Some of you may have come from part 1, if you haven't feel free to click here to be taken there, but you don't really need it for this to make sense, so no pressure!

I have been wanting to do a post on something important to me for some considerable time now. Something that I feel passionate about and part of my life that I really want to share with the world. But it's been a long time in the making because, well, you know how it is. It doesn't come out right or you have nothing to write about when you have spare time. But once you are busy inspiration strikes! So frustrating. But it's life! I have literally snuck off on my break at work to write this post! So if you've read the title you may have already came to the conclusion that I was adopted. The mum and dad you and I have grown to love on this blog, are not actually my biological parents. If you have read part 1, this would also not be new news to you.

So this is basically a post about my experience, a bit of everything really. But I honestly think it's worth a read (even though it is really text heavy). Now a disclaimer before I get into the knitty gritty: I am only one person and my experiences, feelings and opinions will probably differ wildly to other people, even in similar circumstances. But this is my personal recount of what it was like for me, being adopted.

My Story:

I was born on the 21st of February 1995 to a lovely young man and women Louise and Richard. My biological parents! Young and ill-equipped, they had both made the very brave and difficult decision to give me up for adoption. This I later came to realize, would be the best decision anyone ever made for me. For 8 weeks after I was born I was cared for by a foster mother. Who according to my Dad ( Warwick), was actually an Ex nun. At the same time a married couple by the names of Shelley and Warwick ( My beautiful parents) had recently been lucky enough to adopt a baby boy by the name of Shaun (my older brother) but they had again began the very long journey to adopt another baby.

My adoptive Parents
❤

When the stars (and the paperwork) all aligned I was lucky enough to be adopted. I was blessed with an open adoption, which means I still have contact and get to know my biological parents. We even saw each other from time to time as I grew up. The amazing family that I luckily got adopted into was the small family The Stephen's. I was a whopping 8 weeks old! If being part of a new loving family wasn't good enough already, my beautiful new mum (Shelley) was pregnant and soon my family and I were blessed with another addition, my little brother Callum. 

Adoptive Family ❤
From left to right: My Dad (Warwick), Me!, Callum (Younger brother),
Shaun (Older brother) Mum (Shelley)

My adoptive family have been my heart and soul for the past 21 years (and always). We have have whole bunch of good times and quite a few of the bad. They've raised me and given me all the love, support and opportunities in the world. Although raising me has probably not been the easiest experience ever, hey have always stuck by me 110%! Shout out to you guys, if you are reading! You are literally the best thing that has ever happened to me.















So now that you all (hopefully) have my basic situation in mind. I want to quickly address a couple of common questions or thoughts surrounding adoption. Now as I mentioned this is all just my experience and I am in no way trying to change any ones mind about adoption. I merely want to share. Here is some of the common things that people have asked me about being ad

Feelings of abandonment?....

I honestly wondered as a child why I was "given up" not that I was by any means unhappy with my family. I think it was another thing added to the confusion of growing up. Like all children adopted or not. I was faced with issues surrounding belonging. But the best advice I can give to all children that are adopted out into beautiful families like mine. You were chosen. It's no easy feat to adopt a child ( but in my opinion totally worth it) which makes it even more special. Just think of all the children whose parents didn't plan them. Your adoptive parents put a lot of love and effort into finding and raising you as their own. My situation in this case was always relatively easy because I could always ask my biological parents. When it comes down to it. Mine and most biological parents will give you up, not because they don't love you. But because they loved you enough to make such a difficult decision so that you can have a better life, than they could offer.

A lack of connection to adoptive parents? I have never felt a lack of connection to my parents and I can positively say they love me and my brothers the same. I have always been close with my family and always felt really loved and I think I always really belonged with them.






Learning that I was adopted!

This is a question I get asked a lot as an adopted person. I never just suddenly found out I was adopted. I always just knew. My parents just spoke to us about it until we understood, no surprises. They were always super lovely and supportive and always happy to talk about it. I think one of the most memorable things that they have told me so far is that adoption is not about being "Given up" it's about being chosen and taken in because someone loves you. 





So this concludes my little Q&A. As I said earlier these were just the most commonly asked questions. If anyone else has any questions maybe I will do another part. But for now that concludes my part 2! I'm sure there are many issues and questions that I didn't touch upon, but if you have any questions please feel free to put them in the comments or PM me and I will do my best to get back to you all!

I had so much fun writing this, it was awesome looking through a bunch of old photos to choose some for this blog. Talking about adoption and sharing some insight into my life has been something I have wanted to do for a while. So I am really happy that this post is finally up for all of you guys to see.
Thank you so much for reading,