Since finding out I’m a Late Discovery Adoptee, it has been a challenge when people keep secrets from me and aren’t transparent and authentic. For 23 years of my life I didn’t know I was adopted and it is still surreal for me. Unfortunately, legal decisions were made for us as infants and we didn’t have any control on who would be raising us. However, I now know that I was better off being adopted with having two parents that wanted to be parents and loved me unconditionally.  Surprisingly, having being told by my birthmother that my birthfather was one man in the 1990s and then finding out 30 years later through DNA Testing that it was someone totally different, just added to more shock and secrecy with regards to my birthright, medical history and genetic mirroring. As adoptees, we just want to be supported emotionally, loved and have a sense of belonging.  However, as I have become a more seasoned adult now approaching retirement, I finally get to reclaim my identity, design the life I want to see from here on out and be intentional about living my best life to the fullest.