On being an LDS Adoptee

The other night I was thinking back to a party I went to recently at which I reconnected with a boy I met years ago through my sister. When I told him that I'm Miriam's sister he said to me, "You two don't look a thing alike". I then told him that my four brothers and I were all adopted at birth, so it makes sense that we don't look like each other. His jaw kind of dropped and he remarked on the number of kids in our family and then said, "I kind of thought that most Mormon families ended up with so many kids because we just don't use enough protection. It's kind of cool that your parents actually chose to have so many kids". This just made me laugh. I think he's been mislead, because I know plenty of LDS families who planned on having a lot of kids.

Then last night I was talking to a friend about being adopted and some of the things I've had to deal with because of this. She has a younger brother who was adopted into her family when he was about five years old, so we had a few stories to exchange. It was interesting to me to hear about her brother and how her family, although there were six kids previous to his addition, felt incomplete. Now he's been adopted into their family and has been sealed to them and they're finally a complete unit.

Being a member of the Church and being adopted is different than just being adopted. We have the opportunity to go to a Temple of the Lord and be sealed for time and all eternity to our parents and siblings. This special act is something that I am most grateful for. I don't have any discomfort with my family and I feel as though this is where I was intended to be, but since my mom can't have kids, I needed a different way of getting here. Adoption is a beautiful blessing, but being sealed makes it that much sweeter.

Today has been one of those days where, while going about my daily activities, I just think how lucky I am to be a part of this family. I don't think there are better people out there.