GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — November is National Adoption Month, which is a time to raise awareness about the critical need for adoptive families.
A West Michigan organization is hosting events this month to bring foster and adoptive families together.
According to D.A. Blodgett St. John’s, in Michigan, there are 250 children in the foster care system waiting to be adopted.
The organization is hosting a teen adoptee panel tonight for families who are interested in learning more about fostering and adoption.
Diego Garcia is your average 19-year-old.
Fresh out of high school and preparing to join the U.S. Marine Corps.
He also happens to be adopted.
“I always knew I was adopted, my parents always made sure that that was part of like, who I was, and they let me, you know, work through that. So I'm very grateful for them to them for that," Diego Garcia said.
Diego was only a week old when Shelley Garcia brought him home.
“Well, it's something I kind of always wanted to do. And kind of led that way, circumstantially had some fertility issues. And so we went through the adoption process," Shelley Garcia said.
Diego was adopted under Michigan’s safe delivery law.
Which allows a parent to surrender their newborn safely and legally within three days of the baby’s birth to an on-duty emergency provider.
“He was very, he was a wonderful baby. He was a stinker of a toddler. But he's, he's always been a really great kid. Behaviorally, academically, he's super smart," Shelley Garcia said.
Diego says he never felt like something was missing when he was growing up, but he was always curious about his biological family.
Thanks to DNA testing he found two half-sisters.
“That was it was life-changing. I mean, I had grown up and obviously, I had known the whole my whole life that I had been loved. But there was always that part of me that felt that I wasn't totally complete, you know. But, um, and meeting them, I think and meeting their families has given me the opportunity to feel more at peace with myself," Diego Garcia said.
Diego says fostering and adopting is a profound way someone can change the world.
Because every child deserves a good life with a loving family.
The teen panel is at 6:30 p.m. (Nov. 16) at D.A. Blodgett St. John’s located on Dean Lake Rd in Grand Rapids.
Hear from teens, including Diego, from different backgrounds including international adoptions, private adoptions, and those from the foster care system.
Learn how you can make a difference in a young person’s life.
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