To adopted Junior Liz Andrusenki, the meaning of family has always been different from her friends’ definitions.
At 18, Andrusenki’s biological mother gave birth to Liz. According to Andrusenki, her biological mother thought it would be difficult to support her. This led her birth mother to look for a family to adopt her child, where she met Andrusenki’s adoptive mother.
“My biological mother liked my adoptive mom because she had lots of animals, and I really liked animals,” Andrusenki said. “My mom says when she came to visit me I sat in her lap for hours and never went around my birth mom.
As an adopted child, Andrusenki often addresses common misconceptions about her life story. Her peers occasionally confuse the meanings of the words foster child, orphan and adopted child, using them interchangeably when addressing her.
Her younger brother, Ryan, who is six years younger than her, has also been called and been referred to these names, more often than Andrusenki herself. She believes the misinterpretation of those terms is an honest mistake on their part.
“Thankfully what my peers have mistakenly said is not true. I am treated as if I were my parents’ own child, and they do not treat me like an outcast or someone different,” Andrusenki said. “My parents always help me discover my true identity.”
Her parents bring her and her younger brother along to explore their biological families’ countries of origins, such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Panama, see what life could have been like for them, encourage them to view many different cultures, attend different cultural festivals and try foods they normally wouldn’t eat: including Greek, Polish and Brazilian cuisine.
“I think all of it has helped me become more tolerant and accepting of people.” Andrusenki said. “Since I’ve experienced and dealt with unique situations, I can understand where people are coming from with a more empathic approach than most people, which has led me to meet interesting people as well as hear what they have to say.”