{"id":276980,"date":"2022-10-04T06:45:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T11:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=276980"},"modified":"2022-10-02T22:42:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T03:42:52","slug":"teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen adopted from foster care says &#8216;adoption has been a blessing&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope for their own bright future \u2014 and to encourage potential parents to consider adopting from foster care as well.<\/p>\n<p>Tawanna Brown, now 19, told <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/local\/2022\/09\/an-adoption-can-be-empowering-for-a-teen-in-foster-care-and-rewarding-for-new-parents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WTOP News<\/a> that growing up in foster care comes with a lot of difficulties. &#8220;[T]here\u2019s a lot of unknowns,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You don\u2019t know what\u2019s next. You don\u2019t know when your next placement is going to be. You don\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to be split up from your siblings, if you\u2019re ever going to see your siblings again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brown shared her story previously with <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.adoptuskids.org\/finding-my-voice-changing-my-story\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AdoptUSKids<\/a>, explaining that she and her four siblings were removed from their parents&#8217; home when she was 12. Within three years, she and all of her siblings were adopted by her grandmother. It made a huge difference in their lives.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We knew we were safe,&#8221; she said. &#8220;My grandmother took in all five of us so we wouldn\u2019t be separated, and I adore her for that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Before the adoption, while they were still living in foster care, Brown said it was difficult to be involved at school. Between meetings and therapy sessions, there was little time for extracurriculars. But after being adopted, Brown participated in sports and clubs, and was able to thrive; she&#8217;s now attending college. &#8220;Adoption has been a blessing,&#8221; she said. &#8220;My siblings and I are pursuing our goals and aspirations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brown said that having a support system in place made her life easier and empowered her to chase her dreams.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It reassured me knowing that regardless of whatever were to happen, I had a forever home and I always had a support system to fall back on. That did not mean that everything was perfect, but it meant that I had a support system and I had a family that will work through the goods, the bads and the in-betweens together,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd I knew that when I came home and if I needed a shoulder to cry on \u2014 or if I needed a hug or a good laugh \u2014 that I had that and I didn\u2019t have to wonder where I was gonna get that from.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ:<\/strong>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/psas-families-encourage-adoption-older-children\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>PSAs inspired by real families encourage the adoption of older children<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Without that support system in place, she said it&#8217;s significantly more difficult to navigate through life, saying, \u201cSome milestones such as graduating high school, preparing for college, filling out financial aid \u2014 a support system is needed for that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brown also said she was determined to not &#8220;be another statistic.&#8221; Those who age out of foster care are much more likely to struggle; <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.fc2success.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/National-Fact-Sheet-on-the-Educational-Outcomes-of-Children-in-Foster-Care-Jan-2014.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">less than 10%<\/a> of foster youth graduate from college, while children who age out of foster care are at a <a href=\"https:\/\/adoption.org\/dangers-aging-foster-care\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">substantially higher risk<\/a> of problems like homelessness, substance abuse, unemployment, criminal activity, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Kamilah Bunn, CEO of the National Adoption Association, told WTOP News that people shouldn&#8217;t be afraid to consider adopting foster children. \u201cOne thing that I hear quite often from families that may be thinking about it, but gives them pause, is the myths or the misnomers that are out there about adopting from foster care,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd one of the myths is that, oh, you have to be married or you have to be a homeowner. When in reality, we\u2019re looking for all kinds of families. All types of families can provide the love, commitment and unconditional support to a young person who is waiting to be adopted. The other thing I hear quite often is that, \u2018Well, do teens really want to be adopted?\u2019 And that\u2019s a resounding yes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, Brown is planning on attending law school after getting her bachelor&#8217;s degree, and advocates for other foster youth. \u201cWhile I wasn\u2019t able to write how it started, I am in a position where I can navigate how I want my ending to look like,&#8221; she said. And she has advice for other foster children, like her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I believe in you. When my seventh-grade teacher said those words to me, it clicked. And so, I\u2019m saying them to you. There are people in the world who see potential and greatness in you,&#8221; she said. &#8220;You are more than your traumas. You have the ability to create your own future, full of purpose and potential.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveactionnewsonline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope for their own bright future \u2014 and to encourage potential parents to consider adopting from foster care as well. Tawanna Brown, now 19, told WTOP News that growing up in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":187938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[804,19220,2408,19219,19221],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Teen adopted from foster care says &#039;adoption has been a blessing&#039;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teen adopted from foster care says &#039;adoption has been a blessing&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-04T11:45:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-03T03:42:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_624072134-adoption.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cassy Cooke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\"},\"headline\":\"Teen adopted from foster care says &#8216;adoption has been a blessing&#8217;\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-04T11:45:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-03T03:42:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\"},\"wordCount\":760,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Adoption\",\"AdoptUSKids\",\"foster care\",\"Tawanna Brown\",\"teenage adoption\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Human Interest\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\",\"name\":\"Teen adopted from foster care says 'adoption has been a blessing'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-04T11:45:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-03T03:42:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Teen adopted from foster care says &#8216;adoption has been a blessing&#8217;\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392\",\"name\":\"Cassy Cooke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Cassy Cooke\"},\"description\":\"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Teen adopted from foster care says 'adoption has been a blessing'","description":"A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Teen adopted from foster care says 'adoption has been a blessing'","og_description":"A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2022-10-04T11:45:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-10-03T03:42:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_624072134-adoption.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cassy Cooke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cassy Cooke","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/"},"author":{"name":"Cassy Cooke","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392"},"headline":"Teen adopted from foster care says &#8216;adoption has been a blessing&#8217;","datePublished":"2022-10-04T11:45:40+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-03T03:42:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/"},"wordCount":760,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Adoption","AdoptUSKids","foster care","Tawanna Brown","teenage adoption"],"articleSection":["Human Interest","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/","name":"Teen adopted from foster care says 'adoption has been a blessing'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-10-04T11:45:40+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-03T03:42:52+00:00","description":"A teenage girl adopted at 15 years old from foster care is sharing her experience with the aim of giving other teenagers like her hope.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/teen-adopted-foster-care-calls-blessing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Teen adopted from foster care says &#8216;adoption has been a blessing&#8217;"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/16622da192101346f516b7444d125392","name":"Cassy Cooke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8b602f8210f1a7d948ca1c0dcab11fad?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Cassy Cooke"},"description":"Cassy has over 20 years of experience as a writer and editor, most of which have been spent covering pro-life issues like abortion, disability rights, euthanasia, and more.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/cassy-fiano\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276980"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276980"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277197,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276980\/revisions\/277197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}