All About My Story!

My name is Megan Montour. I was born on July 8, 1987. Three days later, on July 11, I was adopted and put in the care of my parents, Rita and Gary Montour. I joined the family as the third adopted child! My sister, Erin, is 23. My brother, Ryan, is 22. With me being 21, you can imagine that for my parents, it was like having triplets! My mom loves to remind us that we were all crying at the same time and she constantly needed her own mommy to help her with the enormous task of taking care of three babies. My mom was advised that she shouldn't have children due to a blood clotting disorder. Following doctors orders, my parents immediately knew that they wanted to adopt. They loved the idea of, in a sense, choosing, us as their children. My mom and dad have always loved us as if we were their own flesh and blood. My parents told us from the get go that we were adopted. My mother bought children's books for us to help us understand that although we were not biologically their children, they loved and cared for us just the same. I will always and forever be thankful for their unconditional love for me and my siblings, as well as their selflessness in raising us and giving us the life we might have never had without them.

As for my biological mother, I have never met her. There are reasons why I would consider it. I have asked myself, do I look like her? Does she have any medical information I need to know about? Is she just like me? All of these things and more have come to mind, but I have not actually thought it was necessary at the time to meet her. I know that some may say that having information about her may prepare me for future medical crisis, but as a firm believer in the goodness and protection of my father in heaven, God, I know that He will provide me with the life experiences that I need to undergo in order to grow in faith and in love, with or without meeting her. If I never meet her in my lifetime or hers, I will always keep her in the back of my mind. She made the RIGHT choice. I am alive and well and celebrating life because of her choice. From what I know about her, she was young, and it probably could have been much easier for her to resort to abortion, but thankfully she didn't. I know that my adoptive parents as well as myself will always be indebted to her kindness and ultimate love for me and my future.

As for me, will I ever adopt? Well let's just say I am nowhere near the point in my life to be financially, emotionally, or mentally prepared enough to take on the huge job of parenting. In the future, I will try to have kids on my own, but I will never forget the option of adoption. If there is a reason that I can't have kids, you better believe I will jump to the occasion of opening my heart to a child in need. I am a huge supporter of international adoptions and could definitely see myself going down that path in the future. We will just have to see :)

In closing, here is one of my adoptive mother's favorite sayings that she always tells me when we talk about her decision to accept me into her heart and family:

Not flesh of my flesh,

Nor bone of my bone,

But still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute

You didn't grow under my heart,

But in it.

Thanks for C.A.R.E.ing about adoption,

Megan