"I do not remember ever not knowing I was adopted. It was my bedtime story as a child: 'Once upon a time, there was a young mommy who loved her baby very much...' and so on." #BraveLove

"So, given her story, and her decision to place me for adoption, my perception of my birth mom has changed dramatically. When I pieced together her life, all those negative feelings dissolved. I know without a doubt she made the choice she did out of love. I do consider her a mother. A mother makes the best decision for her children, even if it breaks her heart."

As reflected perfectly in the symbol for the adoption triad, adoption consists of three parties coming together from opposite angles to meet at the intersection of a unique kind of love.

BraveLove is a certain kind of love, which takes great courage, sacrifice, and trust. We are so thankful to adoptive parents and birth mothers for offering this kind of love.

Clay discovered that he was the center of one of the greatest acts of determination and heroism he’d ever heard of, and Priscilla re-opened the deepest wound of her childhood. #BraveLove

We’ve run across some great adoption stories, articles and videos so far this week. Read/Watch these at your leisure...

“I finally got to see and meet someone who looked exactly like me,” said Duffy, a marketing professional. “It’s a very kind of emotional, strange thing that you grow up your whole life and don’t ever know anything about your background. And it’s the first chapter of your life, that birth certificate.”

"I chose adoption because I knew the life I wanted to give my child was different from what I could truly give her."

"My greatest wish for birth mothers is that they find peace with their decision to place and know that their children appreciate the sacrifice they made."

Source: This poem is a part of Dear Abby’s “Keepers” booklet, which is a collection of poems and essays that Dear Abby readers love to read and re-read.