The world that seemed normal to Angela Legg as she grew up didn't look normal to the society that surrounded her. She didn't realize this until she was much older. In her life, she had two loving female caregivers and two brothers who gave her the appropriate hard time for being their little sis. She knew she was a different race from her family and even much of her community, but she didn't see this as something that kept her from being loved, having friends, playing sports, and growing up to be a successful adult.

She did eventually connect with her birth family. She found people who had so many similarities to herself and were incredibly welcoming. At the same time, they didn't have the same resources that she grew up with. Their lives had difficulties that Angela's didn't. Angela understands that every family has stresses, disagreements, and challenges. She feels blessed that even with the challenges she faced growing up, she was surrounded by love. She feels a mission to make sure she honors the memory of the strong women who sacrificed to show her love and give her the life she now has. She acknowledges that they were forging a path forward at a time when society didn't understand the relationships her family was embracing.

In this episode, I introduce you to who I am and what my adoption and foster care journey has been like. It has taken me quite a while to reach the point where I was ready to put my background in the spotlight for a few reasons. I was incredibly eager in the early days of Adoption Uncovered to learn from others and start creative discussions about ways to make foster care and adoption better for everyone involved. Focusing on the insight I could gain from others and talking about aspects of foster care and adoption I had no personal experience with seemed far more urgent than talking about myself. It also took me some time to sort out which pieces of my story were mine to tell. My story doesn't just belong to me. It belongs to my adopted kids and everyone else in my immediate family who have been part of the ride. I have journaled about this topic, read articles related to it, and consulted with family members like my husband and my adopted son, who is now an adult. They have given me their blessing to invite you to get to know us better. Welcome into our family, and my life touched by adoption and foster care this time on the podcast.

As adoptive parents, we often try our best to do our research to find a program to adopt through that seems ethical. Sometimes we find out later that the situation our adopted children were in was far more complicated than we initially thought. Marjie Alonso adopted two young boys from Paraguay. The boys were not related, but were four months apart in age. As the boys grew, Marjie found herself seeing behaviors she didn't understand from her adopted boys. Therapists didn't give her the advice that she needed. When she finally took her boys back to Paraguay at their request the interactions she had with their first families caused her to rethink her views on international adoption and how to define a good life. Learn more about her story and her thoughts in this interview.THIS EPISODE CONTAINS MENTIONS OF SUICIDE