I have mixed feelings...

Hi Everyone! My name is Summer, and I'm glad to have found a community where I can talk about the complicated feelings of being adopted. Recently I came across a celebrity that I used to follow regularly. They had a post on Instagram about Adopting a Child for a day, and a YouTube video to match, and the fact that they did this made me see red. But first let me explain -

TL:DR - I was adopted at 3 days old, and I saw that a celebrity had adopted a child for a day for a YouTube video. I was furious, but I want to know everyone's opinion, as this is a sensitive topic.

So here's my story.

My parents who adopted me were having fertility issues. They had been trying to start a family for almost 5 years. My mom had several miscarriages, and it was very hard for both her and my Dad. So they decided to go the route of adoption. They put in their papers, and just waited for about a year, hoping they would be chosen. On Valentine's Day the year I was born, they got the call that they had been chosen to adopt a baby girl, and that they would receive me in the next few weeks. Everyone went crazy with excitement and trying to get things ready. A week later, I was born.

My birth mom was 18 when she got pregnant with me, she was a senior in High School. My Birthdad did not know I was born. She decided the best thing for her to do was to give me up for adoption, and it turned out wonderfully. I was given to a loving mom and dad, and they are all I've ever known as parents. They have always supported me, given me everything I could ever need in life, and have done everything they would have if I had been born to them. They helped me understand very young what adoption was, but made sure I knew I was very loved, and I was a part of their family regardless of who gave birth to me.

My Birth mom was a very kind and loving woman, and she gave me up because she wanted me to have a better life than she could provide for me at that time. She also did her best to make sure I understood why I had been put up for adoption, and overall is just a wonderful amazing woman. :) My adoption was semi-closed, so she was able to write me letters, and I always kept them in a Winnie-The-Pooh lockbox under my bed.

As I had her name, I reached out to her when I turned 18 on Facebook, and we became fast friends, and I really enjoy her as a person. I look at her more as a fun aunt who I see occasionally because we still have our separate lives. I will always and forever be greatful to her for making the descison to give me up so I could have a better life than she could have provided me at the time.

Fast forward to 2019 - July 4th. I have spent about 6 years getting to know my Birth Mom and her family. My birthdad's story is more complicated. I had two possible men who could be my birth father, due to my Birth mom dating them around the same period of time. The man she thought was my birth father turned out not to be, so she told me about this other Gentleman that turned out to be my birthdad. As we spent time talking, I got to talking to my cousins wife, who is also adopted, and she recommended I try reaching out to him.

I thought, what the heck, if he's nice, great, if he wants nothing to do with me, that's fine too, I have a family who loves me, and I'm very happy with that.

So I reached out to him, and he is a wonderful man as well. So all in all, my story turned out very well, and I am greatful, as I know so many peoples haven't, even in this group. If you have read down this far, and you have had a hard story, please know that you are loved, honestly and truly.

But that brings me to the point of this post - I was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw a particular YouTube personality had made a video called "I adopted a child for a day!" And when I scrolled onto it, I saw RED.

In my personal opinion, I think they were using this child for clickbait, and I can't even fathom why someone would do something so cruel when there are so many others, both parents who would love to adopt, and children hoping to be adopted. But they were able to do so because he has millions of dollars, as well as fans.

I couldn't bring myself to watch the video, but I did scroll through the comments, and most of them were positive, he got along with the child well, they had a lot of fun, but I am still very angry that he would almost exploit the child in this way, and I feel so sad for the people who could watch it, who are hoping with every bone in their body to have a child, but can't adopt because of financial restrictions or other reasons.

Am I overreacting? I would love to hear others opinions on it. I have an open mind, and if anyone wants to know anything about my story, feel free to ask. Hope all are being safe. :)