Adoption Changed My Life

Submitted by: Emilee Elizabeth Northcott

The chances of getting adopted drop dramatically once you become an older child in care, and for me, at age 10, I was luckily placed into my forever home alongside my birth sibling who was also an older age.

For older children,  it is hard to plant your roots and believe that somewhere will actually be considered a permanent home.

Before age 10, I was placed in 7 different foster homes with a total of 9 moves (being placed back into the care of my birth mother)... that's a lot for a 10 year old! A lot of inconsistency, let downs and disappointments. Once the time came to be adopted, I tested my limits, to make sure that my "new" parents would still accept me AND they sure did! 

Even though I ended up back in the foster care system(due to my own behaviors and decisions) they stayed present through

~ All my struggles
~ All my different placements
~ Court hearings where they were the voice as mine was not heard
~ Holidays where they had to be patted down to visit me
~ Mental health
~ College(the struggle is real )
~The birth of my beautiful daughter who is now 5

A total of 36 different moves from foster homes, group homes, and incarceration periods from age 7, and they have been

~ My rock
~ My consistency
~ My proof that a stable home/parental figure is what children need through all of the stuff life throws at us.

Even though I fought it due to attachment issues I knew in the back of my mind I'd never not see their face whether it be in the background or front row.

Adoption is the best thing to have happened in my life, without it I have no sweet clue where I'd be. But even better, it hasn't only affected me, now MY daughter gets to experience a loving family, see mommy in college thanks to Grammy and Grampy, and see something other than not working and alcohol/drug consumption within a home... because let's be real, that's what she would be growing up in if I wasn't shown the correct ways of life.

Remember that adoption, or being that consistent role in someone's life, may be the thing to

~ Push someone to succeed
~ Show them their worth
~ Help future generations
~ Help them through dark times and
~ Give them someone to depend on emotionally, because we all know that is what everyone needs