"My Story" - Brandi

How would you describe your adoption? 

I was adopted at 6 weeks old. I was with my biological mother for those first few weeks, but her drug use led her to make some dark decisions. She left me abandoned inside a box. The town I’m from, Soperton, Georgia, is so small—it didn’t take long for other family members to hear of my distress. My aunt and uncle took me in and loved me as their own. My life was perfect in my eyes until I turned 8 and was told, “Look, there is your real mom”. In the moment, I laughed it off and couldn’t wait to tell my mother what someone said at vacation bible school, but when I did share the joke with my mom, the reality of who I was shifted in one car ride home. I was loved, sheltered, and adored by my entire family. Some say spoiled, I say accepted, never treated like I was anyone else’s. It took me many years to understand and appreciate that my adoption was one of the highest forms of love. For most of my life, I saw it as a curse. Like I wasn’t enough or didn’t matter.

Where are you in your adoption journey today?

I have finally found peace in my adoption journey. I was looking at every street corner and every club. I looked at alcohol and in men. I looked in different circle groups and jobs. I needed to find “my people”—when all along, from the age of 6 weeks —I had my people.

Being adopted has taught me...

... my younger self needed help understanding I wasn’t alone—that the choices of my biological parents weren’t a reflection of who I was or how valuable I was. That not knowing who my biological dad was doesn’t mean that you aren’t lovable and can’t be happy. That the decisions of others aren’t always to harm you and that you can be happy with the life God has given you.