Roughly 135,000 children are adopted in America every year. I happen to be one of them. Being raised as an adopted child is definitely interesting to say the least. I can say I get some pretty weird questions when I say I'm adopted. Just this past week I told someone I was adopted and they replied with, "How does that work? So, neither of your parents are real?"

I was raised differently, but that does not mean that anything in my life is any less real than any one else's life.

Another question I get fairly often is when I found out I was adopted.

My family raised me the best possible way they could have - WITHOUT LIES. I was told since day one that I was adopted. I can't imagine being lied to about my biological history and then just all of a sudden realizing that my family had been hiding it from me for x amount of time. How could you all of a sudden make that switch into knowing that something was different? If you don't want your child to be ashamed of who they are, then why would you lie to them about who they are?

Always knowing has prepared me not only for the weird questions that I get when I say I'm adopted, but it has helped me in accepting differences in others as well.

As humans, we feel threatened by the unknown. Different is always scary. Stop raising children to believe this!

I am adopted and I know exactly who my family is. I am not that stereotypical lost child searching for his/her real family because my real family is right in front of me.

The very first definition of family that Merriam - Webster shows is: family - a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head.

No where does it say related by blood.

My real family is the people who actually put the work into raising me. Not the individuals who are biologically related to me. Their jobs ended when the doctor cut the umbilical cord.

Merriam - Webster defines parent as a person who brings up and cares for another and sibling as one of two or more individuals having one common parent. Once again, every part of my family is real.

Another common question I get is do you know your biological parents or would you want to know them?

My answers are no and no. I don't think anyone is too fond of meeting strangers. Remember the phrase that most elementary school kids learned, "Stranger Danger". It is as simple as that.

As I continue to grow up I get more questions about whether or not I would ever adopt children some day and the answer is absolutely 100% yes! There are so many kids out their that need a loving home and I know first hand that a loving and nurturing home is what any child needs. When I was an infant I had many, many health issues and there were doubts about me living but all I really needed was a good support system behind me. That's all anyone really needs. I always look at my family as people who support me through anything because they literally saved my life. I would not be here today if I didn't receive the medical care and love from them. Why would I not choose to do that for some child out there?

Would I raise him/her differently then I was raised?

Absolutely not! I was raised without deception and knowing that I was loved in spite of being different. I learned how to be myself from the very beginning because my family accepts me for exactly who I am.

I am adopted just like hundreds of thousands of other people. We are different, but I can guarantee you that each of our lives are real.