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You've been Adopted  -  You've been Abused but you were too young and too afraid of repercussions to report

Statistics tell us abuse in adoption is not a problem.  But we lived the problem.  Because there's no record, your abuse never existed - only the ones that kill or die seem to count.

Help us challenge the statistics to reflect our reality by registering

(either anonymously, under pseudonym, or real name)

  • Fill out an Abuse Case File once you have registered
  • Fill out our extensive Adoption Abuse Survey
  • Add your story to our collection of blogs, Read Our Stories
  • Accept our heart-felt gratitude

Join the adoptees below who bravely expose the truth to spare future children from this unnecessary and preventable fate.

 

(Abuse Case File)

ildicoe's picture
Ildicoe
08-24-65
small town in midwest Ohio
I dont know the date, but was adopted at birth
Ohio
Mother and adopted father, and foster care

I was adopted in the 60's. Born in a small clinic in the midwest.
I was adopted at birth by two people from the appalchians, it was hell from day 1.
When I cried I was smacked, my mother said I cried on purpose, trying to get attention. I was an ill baby , allergic to milk and my tummy always hurt , always throwing up. This didnt sit well with my mother, her remedy was to give me more to what ever I was allergic too.
My earliest memory was her holding me on her lap and restraining me, forcing me to eat, if i fell asleep during my feeding I was rudely shaken awake. I have scars on my face where she has pinched my cheeks to hold food in my mouth so I wouldnt spit it out.
My toddler years consisted of being thron out of the crib onto the floor busting out my teeth and giving me two black eyes, my leg was broken because my mom said I fell off the bed, I was always being chased, hit or force fed.
AS I became older, I was always told I was ugly, and I acted stupid. I was tied up by my ankles to a bed post and stripped of my pants and under garments, my mom then sat across the small of my back so I couldnt reach around to stop her from beating my butt with a shoe heel, a thick wooden paddle this all the while stuffing my dads tube socks in my mouth so I couldnt scream. This beating would go on until her fury drained out of her and I was left bleeding through my bruses. Before any type of beating she would walk through the house closing windows so the neighbors wouldnt hear.
She stood me in a corner naked and flipped me with rubber bands, put my feet in a frying pan on the stove. Made me eat dish soap and whenever i had chapped lips she would put hot pepper sauce on them.
When she was potty training me, she would make me sit on the toliet for hours. During summer vacation she would get me up, feed me breakfast and then make me stand in the corner until it was time to go to bed that night , usually standing 13 hours or more a day.
She beat me ( along with my father) on my female private parts with a paddle or a paint stirrer, and when it was bruised, she would remark...." look , your pee-pee is wearing lipstick." She then would apply muscle rub to my genitalia. This happened more than once.

I think she was posining me, I had sores all over my body, my tongue always had red bumps and my nails had white spots on them. I was always very sick to my stomach, but I was never allowed to rest, I had to stand in that corner very ill. Sickness was a sign of weakness.
She didnt like it when I had to go to the hospital. She took me out and brought me home. She would wrap me up in bed sheets with an peroxide or alcohol solution with all of those open sores on my body, it hurt so bad!! then she stood me in front of the window air unit. She would make me stand there for hours. I would freeze and shake.
At night when I was sleeping, she would come in and scream at me that I wasnt sleeping in my bed correctly and then she would grab me by the hair and throw me to the ground. I wasnt allowed to have friends and I couldnt play with my toys, I either stood in the corner all day or sat in the corner of my room.

I was tested at school and they wanted to put me in a gifted class and she told them no. So when I got home after school, she would take away my books and not let me do homework, so I would flunk out. See? she said, your not so smart.
She made me clean the bathroom with my tongue, she wrapped me up in my dads thermal shits and tied my hands behind my back like a straight jacket. She made me eat a whole cake and a bottle of ketchup.
She would make me stand and make faces at myself in the mirror. She would send me to my room to cry and when I stopped she would come in with a belt,extension cord. She was also known to punch me in the stomach.
I had a horrible life, I was always afraid, afraid to sleep, afraid to speak. And my dad would just go along with it.
I still suffer.

I went through 38 foster homes after this, it was just as bad.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

Please mothers, keep your babies. I would have chosen to be poor and lived with my true family

About adoption: 

I was adopted through a lawyer who has made it impossible to find anything about my family.
All adoptions should be open, we have the right to know where we come from.

Abuse Case File

Jaivy's picture
jaivy
9/26/81
long beach, ca
9/26/1981
california
male adopter, female adopter, second male adopter (step father)

Visual, verbal, spiritual, emotional and physical abuse and neglect.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

 

I was adopted at birth. My ADOPTORS , told me two times in my life that i was "adopted." which I'm suprised they even told me.  They never loved me from the beginning.

Adoptors:  "Son. You were adopted. Do you know what that means?"

ME:  "No."  (  I was in kindergarten or 1st grade when they said this.  )

Adoptors:  "it means we love you."  "Yes it does."

 

Before, and afterwards I was always introduced to others as "This is my son."  (I control him but I don't love him)

 

My male adoptor asked me again when I was in high school. “You know you were adopted right.” I had the memory from above go through my head, and then I responded.

 

“Ya.”

29 years old and I finally look up the meaning of the word. You'll never imagine the ignorance i've felt and the mental problems caused by my adoptors because of their emotional abuse when I was in kindergarten, and then again in high school.   Finally a few weeks ago i looked up the definition for adopted.

 

"to be taken by choice"

 

No one ever told me i was an ORPHAN.

taken from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/orphan

1. Orphan
a. A child whose parents are dead. ( I was as good as dead to one set of parents - so i guess i'm not an orphan anymore since i have some ADOPTORS hanging around)
b. A child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted. (is the following parental care? apparently in this definition quoted from freedictionary.com parental care means being adopted. fuck you very very much)

 

Here's why etymology is important: The definition from freedictionary again.

 

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/etymology

 

when i was in kindergarten my male adopter, and my female adopter yelled and screamed at each other . My female adoptor's mother - or as I like to call her, my "grandguardian" would try to hold me and shake me around telling me “their fighting over money”. "why are you holding me" was all i could feel.

 

When I was in kindergarten, I was left home alone watching sesame street. Something happened on the TV. I heard a glass break, a dumptser being slammed closed, and someone being murdered. .. I heard a voice say "get away from me" .. and i'm not sure what else was going on, but I thought I was going to die... because my heart got very weak.  I hid behind the chair because I was afraid of the TV.  Later I would learn my male adopter commited adultery with a fellow church goer - who also was the mother of my best friend. My male adopter told me the woman he just banged - her son, my current best friend - my childhood best friend was going to be my new brother because the two adulterers were all of sudden married.

 

sounds of a ho being banged
and a few hours later...

My best 5 year old friend and I are hanging out and my male adoptor comes out.

"You two are gonna be brothers now"

As a newly adopted orphan I felt awesome to have someone my age to share my pain with. I didn't really miss my female adoptor because she was afraid of the dreams I was having when I was in the cradle, plus I was given away by a woman anyway.

 

A few depressing days later my new Female adoptor, who is techinically still married to someone else is fighting and yelling at my first male adoptor and also in front of what I thought was a my new “brother..” Jeremy was his name. ..We were in kindergarten

My first female adoptor comes to pick me up even though she hated me..

 

"get your nintendo if you want it".

"i don't know"

 

"bring it"

"Ok"

 

We moved into a house 30 miles away from the old one, and I never saw my little 5 year old "you're gonna be brothers now" childhood brother ever again. AND THEN the court battle takes place where my male and female adoptor fight for the right to own me just like when I was born.

check out this word ORPHAN. Maybe you can understand what I'm talking about here:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=orphan

MY ADOPTORS didn't want to be around each other so they put me in the middle of their verbal fighting. Imagine my emotion when no one really wants to be around each other, at birth and even after... "here I am, i've been born in this world, and it must be my fault." is the best statement to describe my feelings. I've been so ignorant for the last 29 years the emotion is indescribable. None of my future “friends”, would ever know about this story until now.

At the court proceedings I was left out of the courtroom disputes... and brought in to the judges chambers at the very end. The judge asked ME, in HIS COURT CHAMBERS "who do you want to be with?". I thought about my male adopter... and then the judge said "you want to be with your mother right?"

I thought about my “dad” too. I called him “dad” because I was always introduced to others as “this is my son. “ So I told the judge:

"Yes". I wanted to be with her. I thought I would eventually be with both of them - The JUDGE's decision. "Your gonna live with your mother" Thanks for clarifying the terminology old man. Which one's my mother again?

 

So now I'm an a child unwanted by one single mother - orphanized, adopted by a couple who hate each other and who's male adoptor hate fucks other mens wives outside his own marriage - and given to yet another single mother, and also lose my best friend or “brother” for the rest of my life.. Whoopee for me. Guess what happens next.

I wake up at night having to go pee in my new female adoptor's home 30 miles away from my forgotten little brother. I walk by my female adopter's bedroom only to see her being fucked by her boyfriend who happened to be a male nurse at the local hospital. I might as well have been directing a porn movie at the age of 6. Go adoptors! I'm glad i'm in your sex horror show. Guess what kind of future I'm gonna have... Meanwhile my female adoptor jumps off the bed and holds a stinky finger to my mouth "shhh... don't tell anyone about this ok" as she sniffles something back.

 

Here is why I hate shopping. Almost everytime I would go shopping with my female adoptor and I would start crying she would hit me in the face, or take me to the bathroom and hit me harder.

 

Here is why I hate cleaning. Everytime my female adoptor would come home and find me alone she would make sure I had cleaned the house or I would get another “spanking” as she called it. Often pieces of wood were involved in the beating. After she would say “this hurts me more than it hurts you”, or “I'm sorry.” and cry. After awhile I got used to it, and I didn't care about the physical abuse, so she eventually stopped using me as an emotional beating bag, but that was in high school. .

 

Here is why I hate calling people on the phone. I was the one that always had to call to set up the meeting at “raleys” so that my time could be shared between the female and male adoptors. You'd think I would enjoy calling my “friends.”... but after losing my “brother” at age 5 I have some emotional problems understanding friends, couples, children, and pretty much anyone who hasn't been adopted.

Not to mention that I was punted from house to house, couple to couple, school to school.. and it was pretty impossible to stay in touch with any of my “friends.”

While I was in 1st grade some of the teachers grew worried and checked me for bruises, but the situation at home had calmed down by then.. even though a few weeks earlier I had bruises to show them under my shirt.

About adoption: 

My adoption tale is a horror story.  So I wouldn't recommend adoption to anyone other than if you've been adopted yourself.  I also wouldn't recommend anyone to work in an orphanage unless you've been through a loss like those children have as well. 

Abuse Case File

Christine's picture
Christine
I was born on Sept,13, 1974
Bar Harbor Maine
1980?
Michigan
my adopted parents, and the system that placed me for adoption

Wow, I dont even know how to begin this....Our home was not a house of love. There were no words of encouragement, no compassion, no playful banter, no laughter. lots of tears. I was adopted sometime in the early 80's . Well actually We were adopted then.. we being myself and two of my biological sisters. I was six or seven. It was a very confusing time for me. Ididn't understand who these new people (my A Parents) were, and I didnt understand why I couldnt see my mom. I suffered and i think still suffer from an identity crisis because after living with them for about a year- and attending school they decided to change my name. So one day, i was in school and my name was Mary Jane, and the next, it was Christine. My A Mom would become enraged if anyone (other students) would call me mary. We were adopted because our biologial mother wasnt stable, not able to properly care for or protect us..i had been sexually abused. My adopted mother sat me down and told me that "only bad girls let boys touch them" at six years old i believed i was a whore. This woman told my youngest sister Angie that" You are bastards and God will never love you". Our abuse was physical, mental emotional...to this day each of us is lost within our own fears, unable to connect and be open..so much was stolen from us. How do you find joy in life when you are afraid to truly live?

Your Message
About Abuse: 

Children are a gift- HONOR that gift, love them. cherish them. recognize how beautiful they are.

Abuse Case File

synobia's picture
synobia
July 29, 1976 (according to adoption file)
Wonju, South Korea
December 1976
Oklahoma
adopters

As a toddler, I was diagnosed with ADHD and given Ritalin, which made me catatonic. After taking me to another doctor, my adopters learned that I was actually a precocious child who was desperately bored. It was recommended that I be placed in a school for gifted kids, but my adopters declined to do so. My female adopter revealed to me that she just wanted me to be "hers." She was also an animal hoader who kept cats, dogs, guinea pigs, and a pig inside the house as well as a hoader of objects that overwhelmed the 1-story ranch style house in which I grew up. The pet dander, excrement, and dust was suffocating and made it hard to breathe. I was often sick. My female adopter also told me that I was mixed-race: the child of a prostitute and a soldier. If I had stayed in Korea, then I too would've become a prositute. My male adopter beat me with belts, paddles, and his hands. I was raped when I was 16 years old, and my adopters didn't believe me and thought I was only trying to get attention. This situation drove me to a suicide attempt. I left this house at the age of 17 to go to college. (I studied hard throughout this abuse in order to escape my adopters and the racist town where I grew up.)

Your Message
About Abuse: 

I was the child that my adopters couldn't physically create. Yet 7 months later, their bio child was born. They decided to keep me.

The abuse that I sustained throughout my childhood emerged because I wasn't the child that my adopters chose. They couldn't understand why, despite how they raised me, I was different, and so they felt a combination of revulsion and desire toward me.

To heal, I've had to unlearn much of the abuse's wounding and to emancipate myself from my adopters. I've broken off all contact.

On the outside, I look like an "adoption success story" -- accomplished, professional, etc. -- but on the inside I am a survivor who struggles sometimes to feel safe and who is still deeply scarred from my adopters' "good intentions."

About adoption: 

Adoption is abuse. It does not address the socio-economic problems that have made the child vulnerable in the first place, and in fact, it entrenches them even further by victimizing mothers in the belief that middle-class heteronormative families can cure social ills. It is a form of race and class-based eugencis targeting poor/brown/single women for the elevation of white middle-class married women.

In 1976, my white adopters took out loans to pay almost $1,000 to purchase my body. White privilege trumps class.

I am against adoption. If you have a lot of love to give to the world's children, then urge communities and governments to address the structural violence that separates families. Adoption is a corrupt business seeking to perpetuate itself, and it's the children who suffer and who can't speak out.

Abuse Case File

angelanorthville's picture
Angela Steele
June 10, 1980
Bar Harbor, Maine
1982
Battle Creek, Michigan
Ramona Delores Steele/Wizner and Charles Edward Steele

     From 1982 - 1998 My sisters and I were beaten with leather belts that would leave bloody welts, swung around by our hair like ragdolls, stabbed with pencils when trying to do homework. We were reminded every day of our "worthlessness" . We were constantly told that our AP'S(adopted parents) wished they had never adopted us- they should have adopted the Asian kids; because they wanted a boy. We were told that we were bastards born in sin, and that God would never love a bastard... My sisters and I had to live this duality; going to church and having to sing Jesus loves me in front of the entire congregation; knowing that God didn't love us(according to holy mona). My Amom was a nun in the Catholic church before she met and married my Adad.. These people were educated with college degrees and outwardly seemed to be pillars of society.  My Amom was pure EVIL, and my Adad was a passive abuser, who knew what was happening, and that it was wrong but he never did anything to help or stop the abuse.... you can't put a band-aid on a severed limb....!  These people were mentally,emotionally,physically, and spiritually abusive. We were denied medical care/treatment/therapy, were beat almost every day, told we were trash and not worthy of god or life. We were never hugged, kissed, or given any positive praise or kind words of encouragement.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

     Abuse is not something that goes away, as a small vunerable/impressionable child who is subjected to a lifetime of torment by the people who are supposed to love, and protect you it leaves you broken, and most adoptees have already been broken, that's why they are in the system. To any individuals looking to adopt know that these children are already scarred by a past you probobly know nothing about(I think placement/$ are more important to agencies than actually finding the right family, and giving accurate background info, that might potentially help a broken child heal).  I think it should be mandatory that people looking to adopt undergo psychological evaluations, and follow ups need to continue with social services yrs after adoptions to ensure that the children are healthy and flourishing in their homes/enviroment; why are the children at the center of adoption without voices? The unfortunate events that have transpired in my lifetime have inspired me to help these voiceless children; I am pursuing my BA in psychology so I may be an advocate for childrens rights, and work in social services. To all the abusers: You will be held accountable for your actions; you will be judged by God. " On earth, as it is in heaven..." 

About adoption: 

     Adoption has the potential to be a beautiful thing, for me I was primed to be a serial killer by my AP's because of their abuse/savior complex... I feel like they are lucky I was able to decipher right from wrong; that is why they are still alive. If you have any type of doubt or malice in your heart, adoption is not the answer... These are human beings... not animals! If adoption intrests you, know that it is a one sided choice, and all adoptees are going to have issues regarding bonding/attachment. " Mother is the name of God on the hearts and lips of ALL children."

Abuse Case File

rtjv's picture
Jay
July 7, 1961
Salt Lake City, Utah
July 21, 1961
West Valley City, Utah
Cherie Lee Vance

From July 1961 to September 1982 I was subjected to physical, emotional (told I could do nothing right, never received any kind of physical attention except for being hit, no hugs, kisses or pats on the back), was humiliated in front of friends and family, through denigration, yelling and belittiling. Was flashed by my mother. I was hit with bamboo, a wooden spoon, yardstick, a butcher kinfe (was not cut, but was spanked with it) and was accosted with a baseball bat.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

Abuse of a child, especially one that was hand-picked causes scars that run deeper than the soul itself. No amount of tears shed, can heal those wounds.

About adoption: 

Parents hoping to adopt, should be subjected to a rigorous background check, psychological tesing and interviews, as well as spontaneous check-ups, on the adoptees by social workers. Adoptees should be interviewed periodically and underscore testing to see how they are functioning compared to their non-adopted peers.

(Abuse Case File)

jstone's picture
My name is Jane Stone
I was born in 1942.
I was born in orphanage, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 12.01.42..
I was adopted in 1944.
I was raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Chetek, Wisconsin in summertime.
My abusers were Alveretta Atkinson and Mark Atkinson

from 1944 until 1959, the abuse i was subjected to included knife wounds, deep lacerations with wide plastic belt with attached metal buckle, attempted drownings, lock-up in rooms without food, water, toilet facilities or light, for days at a time, dragged by feet down stairwells, head hitting against cement basement walls, untrue accusations made toward me, to justify abuse, or to "explain" wounds.  

Your Message
About Abuse: 

abuse of a child changes that persons life:  violent abuse never "leaves the main room" of that human being who has suffered.  abuse becomes part of who they are, and to me the worst part of it was believing (as a child) that i deserved the punishment, that i was a bad person who could do nothing right and who caused pain toward others.  a child believes what they are told by adults, and their  messages are internalized.  i was in my 30's before realizing i was smart, kind and worthy of being alive.  i was 16 when my son was born.  my adoptive family disowned me, and my son and i were without any other "relatives" besides each other.  i escaped with my son to canada in order to avoid court athorities in u.s., and vowed to never treat my son with anything but respect, love and understanding.  this "abusive conduct" could not be wrought unto my beautiful child.     

About adoption: 

i believe the time has come for adoption laws to be changed, and for the adoptee to be given rights as a human being, from birth.  i believe it is a constitutional right of a human being born in the u.s., to know his or her heritage and his or her birth parents medical issues as well as the reason he or she was given up for adoption.  the way our country approaches adoption hasn't changed by law or by practice, since the 1930's.  why is 100% anonymity given to birth mother, along with 0% responsibility for outcome of placement, whilst the adoptee recieves 0% birth records,  information of their heritage, medical factors, geographical information~ unless at 18 years of age the adoptee wants to try a birthparent search, and then is told to tread very lightly around a "delicate" situation.  when does society "get it" that an adoptee is without any history of their birth, their heritage or their original parents?  

(Abuse Case File)

jstone's picture
My name is Jane Buffington Atkinson Stone
I was born in 1942
I was born in orphanage, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I was adopted in 1945
I was raised in Atkinson household, Eau Claire, Wisconsin
My abuser was Alveretta Atkinson (mother) and Mark Atkinson (adopted brother)

Abuse i was subjected to:  from 1945-1959: verbal and physical abuse including:  lock-up in confined areas, without food or bathroom for 1 day to 10 days at a time, lashings with wide plastic belt, laserations with knives, right eye split in half, scalding water baths after lacerations when merthiolate would be poured on open wounds until i would loose conscienceness, strangulations until loss of conscienceness, thrown down stairwells, stomped, kicked, head knocked into cement basement walls, etc.. also attempted drownings while at summer home on lake chetek, wisconsin.

Abuse Case. File

wellsg7's picture
Nursel
March 9 1969
Istanbul
April 73
Pa
Dr M Bodmer

Abuse Case File

ma's picture
Mary
I was born in December of 1959
I was born in Chicago
I was adopted in Febuary of 1962
I was raised in a suburb of Chicago
My abuser was my adoptive father and mother

  I was sexually and verbally abused by my alcoholic afather on a day- to- day basis. It started when I was about four or five years old. It continued throughout my childhood, and into my early teens until I was strong enough to get away from him. However, he continued to grab at my breast whenever he was near me,  until I was finally able to move out after I graduated.

 At first, my afather would touch me all over. Then he would grab my hand to touch him. It got much worse as time went on. At night time, when I was asleep, he would come in and I would be awaken by his hands touching me and much worse. My amother saw and knew what he was doing to me and my sister, and did nothing to stop it. In fact, she told me never to tell anyone. She said if I told, They would not take him away, they would take me away and, I would end up some place worse. I was young and afraid of what a worse place might be like. I was also afraid of my amother, so I said nothing to anyone.

 My amother was physically abusive to me. She didn't blame me for what my afather was doing to me, but she hated me because of it. I can never remember a time where she hugged or kissed me, but I can remember her anger and violence towards me. I was always getting hit, slapped, kicked, and she loved to grab my hair and pull it out. It went on like this until I was about 13 years old.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

 I know that it is not a pretty thought to think that foster and adopted children have been or are now being abused, but it is a Fact! We as a society need to change a system that is so greatly failing these children.

Abuse Case File

sylvie
1968
chateauguay, ormstown, quebec
1968
north bay, ontario, canada
my adopted father

he molested me from the time I was 6 until 18 years old. He took me to his bed saying if I loved him I would have sex with him. Also when ever my mother was gone he would have sexual intercourse with me. When he was drunk he would come to my room. As I got older I would lock the door for my room, but he would have the key. My adoptive mother caught him and blamed me. So did her parents, they gave her and my father heck. Recently, now that I am 48, the molestation was brought up at the church through my brother. I was so mad, After I tried to jump off a bridge, now that the church knows my business. When I went up in 2005, I went to the church and noone even knew that they had a daughter, only my brother. Everytime my brother got, or gets in trouble it is my fault, I have always been the black sheep of the family. Now I am so pissed I want to sue my brother and my father. I also got hangers around my neck, missed my grade eight prom, because of my brother, didn't get to date in high school. Been with three men, one was gay, the second abused me too, and then my now husband and I have been married 21 years come Feb. 17, 2011.  

Your Message
About Abuse: 

I would never touch my children as they grew up. I was always afraid I would be like my dad, but thank god i wasn't. I did speed, crack cocaine, and tried suicide twice. I give all my love to my children and grandchildren. I have been clean from street drugs for 8 years. Now I take prozac, sleeping pills, i have anxiety disorder, I am suicidal, etc. My sex life has gotten better, but it took years to get to the place I am now. I hate my brother and my adoptive parents. I just want them to pay for what they have done to me. 

About adoption: 

I wish I had never been adopted. Noone liked me because in the neighbourhood I grew up in were all hottie totties. There was no love in our family, just giving things and spending money. Had to read books to learn about women things, periods etc. Had no boyfriends, ran away all the time, tried to kill myself, took overdose of pills, tried burning the house down, etc.

Abuse Case File

sylvie
1968
chateauguay, ormstown, quebec
1968
north bay, ontario, canada
my adopted father

he molested me from the time I was 6 until 18 years old. He took me to his bed saying if I loved him I would have sex with him. Also when ever my mother was gone he would have sexual intercourse with me. When he was drunk he would come to my room. As I got older I would lock the door for my room, but he would have the key. My adoptive mother caught him and blamed me. So did her parents, they gave her and my father heck. Recently, now that I am 48, the molestation was brought up at the church through my brother. I was so mad, After I tried to jump off a bridge, now that the church knows my business. When I went up in 2005, I went to the church and noone even knew that they had a daughter, only my brother. Everytime my brother got, or gets in trouble it is my fault, I have always been the black sheep of the family. Now I am so pissed I want to sue my brother and my father. I also got hangers around my neck, missed my grade eight prom, because of my brother, didn't get to date in high school. Been with three men, one was gay, the second abused me too, and then my now husband and I have been married 21 years come Feb. 17, 2011.  

Your Message
About Abuse: 

I would never touch my children as they grew up. I was always afraid I would be like my dad, but thank god i wasn't. I did speed, crack cocaine, and tried suicide twice. I give all my love to my children and grandchildren. I have been clean from street drugs for 8 years. Now I take prozac, sleeping pills, i have anxiety disorder, I am suicidal, etc. My sex life has gotten better, but it took years to get to the place I am now. I hate my brother and my adoptive parents. I just want them to pay for what they have done to me. 

About adoption: 

I wish I had never been adopted. Noone liked me because in the neighbourhood I grew up in were all hottie totties. There was no love in our family, just giving things and spending money. Had to read books to learn about women things, periods etc. Had no boyfriends, ran away all the time, tried to kill myself, took overdose of pills, tried burning the house down, etc.

Abuse Case File

sylvie
1968
chateauguay, ormstown, quebec
1968
north bay, ontario, canada
my adopted father

he molested me from the time I was 6 until 18 years old. He took me to his bed saying if I loved him I would have sex with him. Also when ever my mother was gone he would have sexual intercourse with me. When he was drunk he would come to my room. As I got older I would lock the door for my room, but he would have the key. My adoptive mother caught him and blamed me. So did her parents, they gave her and my father heck. Recently, now that I am 48, the molestation was brought up at the church through my brother. I was so mad, After I tried to jump off a bridge, now that the church knows my business. When I went up in 2005, I went to the church and noone even knew that they had a daughter, only my brother. Everytime my brother got, or gets in trouble it is my fault, I have always been the black sheep of the family. Now I am so pissed I want to sue my brother and my father. I also got hangers around my neck, missed my grade eight prom, because of my brother, didn't get to date in high school. Been with three men, one was gay, the second abused me too, and then my now husband and I have been married 21 years come Feb. 17, 2011.  

Your Message
About Abuse: 

I would never touch my children as they grew up. I was always afraid I would be like my dad, but thank god i wasn't. I did speed, crack cocaine, and tried suicide twice. I give all my love to my children and grandchildren. I have been clean from street drugs for 8 years. Now I take prozac, sleeping pills, i have anxiety disorder, I am suicidal, etc. My sex life has gotten better, but it took years to get to the place I am now. I hate my brother and my adoptive parents. I just want them to pay for what they have done to me. 

About adoption: 

I wish I had never been adopted. Noone liked me because in the neighbourhood I grew up in were all hottie totties. There was no love in our family, just giving things and spending money. Had to read books to learn about women things, periods etc. Had no boyfriends, ran away all the time, tried to kill myself, took overdose of pills, tried burning the house down, etc.

(Abuse Case File)

minimelolly's picture
My name is Dawn
Unknown (Approximately 1972)
I was born in VietNam
I was adopted on May 29, 1972 (date issued for birthday)
Most of my childhood was raised in Imperial Beach, CA
My Abusers were my adoptive parents

From as early as I can remember (approx 4-5yrs of age) I lived in fear of my adoptive mother. She was physically & emotionally abusive throughout my entire childhood through my teenage yrs. I was so afraid of her wrath, that anytime in her mere presence, I would try to make myself disappear or blend in with my surroundings to avoid her noticing me in the room. Out in public, all I could obsess about was doing something wrong & her beating the crap out of me & shaming me in front of people I knew. This was done more often than in front of strangers (which was easier to bear). I had very few close friends growing up. Most of my friendships were strictly at school because I couldn't bear to have my school friends knowing my shame & actually witnessing her hit me. I'd rather have died than live with knowing anyone from school seeing her get angry, start screaming mean hurtful things at me, then pulling down my pants, throwing me over her lap & spanking me. It was bad enough in front of strangers, but in front of people I knew was worse and so my childhood was very lonely. Although I prayed everyday for my birth mother to come & rescue me, the few times my adoptive mom threatened to sent me back, I actually would cry & beg her not to because I was (and still am) so afraid of being abandoned again. But so many nights were spent crying myself asleep just praying & begging for God to please let my real mother find me & love me forever. The 1st sexual encounter and very 1st penis I ever touched belonged to my adoptive father. Although he was my sexual molester, I found myself drawn to him to protect me from her. I'd rather endure his unwarranted touches & sex innuendos because he was nice to me & made me feel somewhat safe from her. My mortal fear of my adoptive mom made me closer to my sexual molesting adoptive dad and this has negatively affected every relationship I've ever had.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

Anything/Anyone innocent & helpless, should never have to suffer abuse especially at the hands of those in charge of loving & keeping them safe from harm. No child should ever have to live in constant fear of mommies & daddies that are suppose to protect them. Being a child that grows up feeling unloved and/or unwanted, leaves deep emotional and/or physical scars through adulthood. And even with counseling, these scars never fully go away.

About adoption: 

Anyone adopting a child should know & expect that there will be some sort of baggage (somewhere down the line) involved & had better be ready to accept the responsibility of being a parent to that child. You chose us, we as children, didn't choose you. Don't rob an innocent child the chance to be loved. By taking away someone's chance for a happy life & them having to depend upon you for everything, makes you an enslaver not a parent. Adoption is a choice. If cruelty comes with that choice, then it should be a serious crime, punishable by law, for the adoption alone. The actual abuse would be a different crime upon itself. No 38yr old should have to go through life with scars that run deep because of the person(s) that adopted them. Also, children should be checked in on after an appropriate adjustment period to ensure they are okay.

Abuse Case File

SusieQ's picture
My name is InTheShadowSS
I was born in June 1963
I was born in Los Angeles, California
I was adopted in August 1963
I was raised in Sacramento
My abusers were my Dad, employer, brother and uncle

I was 9 at the time. Dad was so angry from losing his job that he became physically abusive. He was bruising my little brother so badly that Mom had to compress his back and make up stories to tell the teachers. He blackened my eye just swinging to hit anything. I lived in a family of Ostriches. When things go wrong, bury your head in the sand, “don’t air your dirty laundry”. Mom also became afraid of Dad and wanted to leave him but said that she signed a contract to adopt us and would honor that and keep the family together. Mom didn't protect us, and got to where she was leaving every summer to go see her sister. She would take my little sister with her and leave me at home to cook for Dad, work, and deal with the guys. It was like HELL!

At 10, I had to get a job to pay the bills, so I started to babysit for a family. My first remembered sexual abuser, the father of the kids I babysat. David started touching me when I was 12. I wanted to quit my job but feared the wrath of my father. I knew if I didn’t have this job making $56 a week, we would be forced to move from our house. So when I was offered an extra $20 to stay for an hour, I didn’t say no. I let him touch me and make me touch him, and then gave the money to Dad. This continued until I was 15 and David wanted more. I was finally brave enough to quit my job, but I had another job lined up and was never without a job.The summer I turned 15 my big brother raped me. He said since we weren’t blood related, it was okay to have sex. Well, not in my books!! I told Mom that I wouldn't go anyplace with him again, but was afraid to say why. I thought that Dad would call me a liar and blame me, he was always partial to the big Bro. For the next few years, he would wander into my bedroom drunk and want to do me, but I wouldn't allow it. It broke my heart and to this day, I get a sick feeling when I have to talk to him.I moved out of the house on my 18th birthday to live with friends. A couple months later, my Aunt came through town and invited me to live with her. After the first few days of sleeping on her couch, my Uncle woke me up saying he was horny. He said it was okay to have sex because we were not blood related. NOT AGAIN! I kept him off me for a month, then needed a ride. He drove me to a corn field and raped me. I moved to my cousins house to get away, but he had a key and came back for seconds. I went after him with a butcher knife and that is the last time I saw him. He died a couple years ago. I'm also sure he touched me when I was much younger, but the memories are sketchy.

Your Message
About Abuse: 

Just because you aren't blood related to someone, it doesn't give you the right to force yourself upon them and abuse them. Incest is Incest and bruises feel the same to everyone! 

About adoption: 

When you adopt a child, you should protect them at all cost. You may have paid money for them, but they are human beings who are lost and need your love, not your abuse. Protect them!!!!

Abuse Case File

dlhiip's picture
Diana
I was born in Feb. 1951
I was born in Va Beach, Va
I was adopted in 1960
I was raised in Virginia
My abuser was in father

Abuse Case file

Redbyrde's picture
Baby Girl Johnson
12\28\1960
Kansas City Missouri
January 26, 1961
I was raised in a small town in Kansas
My abuser was my adoptive mother, father, and two sisters

From the time I turned 4, my a parents had their own kids.  At that point in time,. I became known as "that thing" "garbage" and "the trash".  their kids could do nothing wrong, and I could do nothing right.  I grew up thinking I was different than everyone else, and not as good. There was something wrong with me.   I was slapped, called names, kicked, banished, made to wait on their children, and my a mother taught my sisters to hate me and pick on me.  My sister would break things, and call "mommy" and say "See what she did"  She would then stand to the side and watch while I got a beating for it.     Anything I ever had was taken away. I got to when I even heard the word family, my stomach would knot up, and I would be so full of hate.    My first suicide attempt was in 6th grade.  My story is told in more detail on facebook, under the discussion post at "You know you're an adoptee when"   I have two chapters of a book and two poems posted there by Throwaway Johnson

Your Message
About Abuse: 

I don't know what the answer is.  I do know I have been unable till recently to form meaningful attached relationships.   I am hypersensitve, especially to rejection, real or percieved.  I am extremely insecure, and clingy and distant at the same time. My life is full of fear.   When people adopt to fill their own needs, and not to come into a childs life to fill that child's needs, the child inevitably is going to be a disappointment to them.  There is no tie like blood, and it does matter.

Abuse Case File

beyondfabulous's picture
Lampson
Emerged November 1966
Victoria, British Columbia Canada
December 1966
Victoria
Both adoptive parents

Sexual, physical and emotional

Your Message
About Abuse: 

Ten years ago I detached from my family of origin. With that act of liberation I began to quiet the rage that had roared inside me like a storm for most of my life. It took me over thirty years to realize that I do not owe anything to these people, these strangers united to me by nothing more than a piece of paper from a court. It was a process that I had no say or input into. A judge decreed that I was supposed to call these strangers mommy and daddy, but I couldn't. I was sentenced to be raised by two people I didn't like. I was left with adults who used me as though I were their toy.

It is always hurtful to lie, but it is devastating and tragic to tell lies to a child. Of all the lies told, the most diabolical lies are the ones told to children. These are the distorted realities that are peddled by adults to children as the truth. I have finally put to rest the lies they told me that I was stupid, worthless and ugly, and that I deserved what I got.

I survived and I escaped. There is light ahead. I have new hope for a joyful life.

Abuse Case File

My name is Ave.
I was born on November 22, 1987.
I was born in Austin, Texas.
I was adopted 19 days after my birth (you can do the math).
I was raised in Austin, Texas and a few small towns in Oklahoma.
My abusers were my adoptive mother and father.
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