Finding Forever with Mama Goose:
My Adoption Story of Unconditional Love 

Story by: Zo Bourgeois

Adoption Awareness Month always hits me deep — because adoption didn’t just give me a home; it gave me her - Mama Goose, or as my kids like to call her, Gangsta GMA. 

I met my Mama when I was 11. I was bruised by a world that told me I wasn’t enough — a world that made me believe I’d ruined someone’s dream of being a mom. In that so-called “dream home,” I lost faith in family. I stopped believing love could last and that I was going to be able to find my forever home. 

Then came Mama Goose.

She never rushed me. She never pushed me.

She just stayed — steady, loving, patient — until I was ready to call her “Mama.”

At 15, we made it official, and I proudly became Zoe Bourgeois.

And I’m forever grateful. 🤍

For almost 23 years, she’s been my constant — through every storm, every heartbreak, every messy chapter. She took in a fiery, opinionated, passionate preteen and never once made me feel too much. She became my home and my safest place.

Even when I had three kids and a partner under her roof, she never told me to go — she helped me raise my babies. She’s been there for every first word, every tear, every laugh. She’s not just my Mama — she’s the best Grandma in the world. 💕

Mama, you gave me more than a name or a place to live. You gave me belonging. You taught me what unconditional love looks like — the kind that doesn’t break when life gets hard.

I am who I am because you chose me, believed in me, and never gave up on me.

So this month, I’m not just celebrating adoption — I’m celebrating you.

The woman who became my forever.