Question: How has being adoptive parents affected the way you look at life?

Insightful question posed to guest blogger Shelley on the BMB website

A. Being a parent changes you, but when you layer it with being an adoptive parent – it’s pretty mind-blowing. The thing that I never could have expected is that by adopting my daughter, my husband and I weren’t just gaining a child, we were getting an entire extended family. That part has been an unexpected blessing.
I also wasn’t prepared for how much adopting a child of a different ethnicity would change me. I’ve always been pretty intolerant of racism and prejudice, but now, I am acutely sensitive to it. Things that would once roll off my back affect me deeply. Now, when people say things, even in jest, I realize that they are speaking about someone’s child – and it could just as likely be my child. I have become painfully aware that our attitudes and words can be powerful weapons to degrade and limit the future of others.