Adopted identity — chosen and given

Adopted identity sits at the intersection of two stories — the one given by biology and often shrouded in questions, and the one constructed by the family of choice and its particular culture, expectations, and love. Many adopted people describe living in both stories simultaneously, the known and the unknown, and finding that the not-knowing shapes identity as powerfully as any confirmed fact. There is no single experience of being adopted; there is the particular experience of this person, in this family, with these unanswered questions and this specific abundance.