My World Would Be So Different If You Hadn’t Adopted Me

By

Mom and Dad:

My world would be so different if you hadn’t adopted me.

If you hadn’t adopted me, I’d still be in a village.

If you hadn’t adopted me, I would’ve been raised in an orphanage.

If you hadn’t adopted me, I would not have had an education.

If you hadn’t adopted me, I would be working at a textile factory, 80 hours a week.

If you hadn’t adopted me, I would have been lost, possibly abused, and never have understood or felt real love.

People always wonder how my childhood was because I was adopted. They wonder if I miss my “parents.” They wonder if I would ever want to go back and find my biological family. They ask if I am angry or sad about it.

Being adopted, I’m just like you in a way. I had an idyllic childhood, was constantly surrounded by family and friends, and I had the privilege to graduate from college and be in a profession I chose.

My case was special. I was almost four before I was brought to the States, so from a young age I was aware of that fact. I was aware that I had left my language, my culture and brought into a place completely new. However, I was not aware that the two people that sat next to me on that 16-hour flight would stay beside me for the next twenty years of my life.

No, I do not miss my “parents,” because I have my parents supporting and loving me every day and for every decision I’ve chosen to make. No, I do not want to find my biological parents because I have my Parents. Going through that process would bring more emotional stress on to them, than on me. And they do not deserve that. My parents may not be my blood nor look anything like me, but they are my heart and soul. We share no genetic makeup, yet their strength, their values, and their unconditional love runs through my veins. They are my constant light in times of darkness, my two pillars for without which I would fall, my ears when I need speak, and my crutch when I need stand tall.

No, I have no regret, anger or sadness. In fact, the complete opposite.

I am saddened however that these kinds of Adoption stories rarely make the news or are discussed about by the media. It’s not until a celebrity figure makes it big and their backstory is revealed, or it’s written into the plot of a Hollywood drama. In fact, these people are around you every day and you may not even know it. And each story is completely unique. Adoptions happen all time and all around the world, they transcend continents and borders. It is such a beautiful thing. Restores faith in humanity that people have so much to give, they are willing to open the doors of their homes and their hearts to a child that was not born to them. I am eternally grateful to my adoptive parents and to my family. And I will always love them, more than they ever know. That void I had when I was four has been filled.

If you didn’t adopt me, I wouldn’t be so inexplicably happy.

If you didn’t adopt me, I wouldn’t have freedom or have understood the joys of life.

If you didn’t adopt me, I wouldn’t have travel the world.

If you didn’t adopt me, I would have never have met the friends I talk to everyday.

If you didn’t adopt me, my life would not be changed, for the better.

My world would have been so different if you didn’t adopt me. It would have been infinitely smaller. Confined to a small province in Asia. I would not have the courage or the curiosity I have today. You have made the world my oyster.

I love you Mom and Dad; my appreciation could never be represented tangibly. Thank you for everything. Thank you for accepting me. Thank you for your love. Lastly, on a paraphrased E.E. Cummings note, I will forever carry your heart with me, because I carry it in my heart.