When you search for the definition or meaning of family, it comes up as a group of one or more parents living together as a unit or a group of people related by blood. Well, that’s not what family is all the time…not everyone has this whole big family. Some families are just single moms or dads with their kids, others are two parents and just one child, and other families go back and forth from their mom’s house to their dad’s house. So I’m saying every family is built differently or looks different from what your family may look like.
Now, what does family mean to me as an adopted person? As an adopted person, you are really trying to build that family you maybe never had before. Or maybe you don’t know what a real family is because your bio family was not really there for you, or you don’t remember the family you had because you were young. So, you accept what your adopted family is because at least you have a family, right? Family does not always have to be blood. Family can be a very good friend you have had for years, or it can be a youth group who can relate to each other and make friendships. Family is not always about blood or perfection. It’s about who stayed and did not leave. Lastly, as an adopted person, I’ll always wonder what my family could have been or would be like if I were still with my birth mom. So, my advice to teens, young adults, and kids is to build your own little family that will make you happy. This is what I think family is and means to me as an adopted person.
Written by an ACO Youth Network Attendee
