 Hi guys, it's Alex and welcome back to my channel if you guys are new here make sure to subscribe I am currently hosting two giveaways, so I'm super excited and today I cannot wait to share my story with you I never knew when to film this. I kind of just wanted to talk to you guys and tell you my adoption story It's quite clear in my videos vlogs everything that I am adopted I have it to moms that they are gay and I have a whole separate video on that So if you want to go check it out I'll leave it linked down below today. I'm going to be talking about my adoption I didn't know it feels better to have a larger audience or smaller audience when talking about my adoption story But I have seen all over YouTube people sharing their stories So I guess today we are going to talk about my story So I was in an orphanage for one year I was one years old when my parents sharing Valerie came to get me I don't remember anything from China. I'm adopted from China I also forgot to add that my parents actually did go to China physically to get me. I don't speak Mandarin I don't really remember anything from the orphanage I do know I was left on a busy road in Fujian province I believe I guess someone found me on the side of the road and took me to the orphanage in Shaman where I was adopted. I've always told people I was adopted because clearly my parents and I do not look the same at all There was never a day where my parents sat me down and were like you're adopted I mean, I always knew I was adopted Sometimes I actually forget that I'm adopted to tell me I was adopted Apparently my parents read me this book about when you were in China and I don't really remember anything about the book But I basically just explained why I was adopted and everything. I seriously don't remember at all I believe I was given up or Abandoned because in China, they're only allowed to have one child and that was the rule back in the day Like when I was born so probably the 1990s and I don't know the rules today But it was very very big that you could only have one child and in Chinese culture They really emphasize having baby boys because in their culture the boy will take care of them So they're always wanting baby boys and obviously I'm a girl so I was Given up many people ask me. Do you want to meet your real parents when people say real parents? They mean biological parents a lot of people get those terms mixed up But my parents are Sherry and Valerie and those are the women that raised me So they are my parents, but my biological parents my birth mother A lot of people ask if I want to meet them or find them and to be honest I have no deep desire to the only thing I tell people is I would like to know who I look like I think it would be very interesting to know who I look like Do I look more like the male or the female and that's just me being nosy? I probably couldn't understand them. Obviously my parents are gay So a lot of the time people are wondering like is Valerie considered your mother or Sherry I don't know the rules today, but back then a gay couple could not adopt So Sherry is my legal mother and then in Ohio Valerie was made my guardian But I guess now she's like my stepmom because my parents got married So Sherry is my legal mother if we're looking from a legal standpoint I was also adopted with seven other girls So we call ourselves the shaman sisters. One of them has been in one of my videos So I highly recommend going and watching that video. I will link it down below Her name is Emily and she also lives in Florida, which is so cool. She's from Chicago So it's just like really cool that she's here The shaman sister group basically stayed in contact because our parents stayed in contact and every year We would do an activity and travel together And we called ourselves the shaman sisters because the orphanage was in shaman. We all are the same age I'm the youngest which is really funny. We always did things together from the time We were babies up until we graduated high school We used to have a reunion every year Which was really fun to see everybody and they were kind of like an extended family Those seven girls were the very first people I ever met basically when we were babies We were in the orphanage together and it's just a really cool concept and I am happy that our parents have Stayed in contact for this long so the kids can stay in contact and with Facebook and social media It really really helped a lot of people wonder if I'm very open about my adoption I am that completely open and I will answer any questions you may have some people the subjects a little touchy for them It's actually really funny Which I might make a whole separate video about but I have a mark on my shoulder It kind of looks like a tattoo and we joke around saying it looks like a tattoo And I also have a birthmark on the inside of my leg So we have this like theory my parents and I that like my birth parents put that on me So if like I wanted to try to find them they could easily Pick me out if I put like an ad in the paper in China, they would be like, oh, yeah That's our biological daughter because of the birthmark and the little tattoo mark on my shoulder I don't know. That's just a theory. We have I guess there's another question I get asked do you ever want to go back to China and I would but for the Tourist experience I would like to see where I was found just because you know, why not It would just be like really cool to see that and experience that anyway That's pretty much it for this video. My parents have always been super open with me about it I think that's why I'm super open about adoption and the subject So if you guys have any questions, you can definitely leave them in the comments down below I don't know too much about domestic adoption. I really only know about international adoption I'm planning on making a little series out of this because I feel like it will Share a little bit more with you guys and give you another side of myself That I don't really share a lot about if you guys are adopted Let me know also down below because I'd love to connect with you guys And I've gotten a few comments in the past saying that you guys are adopted and I think that's awesome Anyway, give this video a big thumbs up Don't forget to subscribe to my channel and I will see you guys in my next video. Bye guys