Vol. 6, No. 2• May 2002

Why I am proud to be adopted

by Roberta LeVern Jones, age 14, Raleigh

I was the youngest child of many children by many different men. My biological mother would leave me with anyone while she ran the streets. My brothers were taking care of me. But one day my brother took me to Social Services. This is when I met my foster parents, Rev. and Mrs. Harvey Jones. When I went to their house, I only had the clothes on my back and some of them belonged to my brothers. My hair had not been washed or combed for many days. My foster mother took me shopping and when we got back home, she washed and combed my hair. My hair at that time was very short and rough. Now my hair is manageable and hangs to my shoulder.

My foster parents did not have a girl and my foster father loves little girls. He calls me his Poo-Poo. I don’t know what that means but I know it’s out of love. I did not feel very good about myself when I came to the Jones house. But now I feel like somebody. They used to tell me how pretty I was and how much they cared about me.

When I was about eight, I heard them talking about adopting me. I wanted to be adopted because I knew I would have their last name too. Just like my foster brother. My mother even gave me a middle name that was close to her name. Her name is Vernell, so she gave me the name of “LeVern.” They never called me their foster child, they always introduced me as their “special” child. That made me feel good!

In the years that I have been here, I have been introduced to the finer things of life. They made sure I was placed in the best day care centers and the best schools. My parents are always at my school whenever there’s PTA or a special occasion. They even gave me piano lessons. I also took gymnastics. I sing in the choir in my church. My adopted father was the one that baptized me. The church also adopted me as their “special” member. We take a big vacation every year to different places. These are just some of the things they provided for me that I knew that no one in my biological family would have done.

Three weeks ago, I went to have braces put on my teeth. They hurt, but my mother said that it would make my smile even prettier. I try to make them proud of me. They are proud of me because they always tell me so.

I love my adopted parents and would not trade them for anything! Thank you Social Services for making me the happiest person in the world.

I’m glad I was adopted.