by Katie Parkinson, photos by Katie Hornbeck

Marley Schmidtlein

Where are you from? What nationality are you? Where were you born?

Junior Marley Schmidtlein does not know the answers to these questions.

Schmidtlein was adopted through Catholic Charities when she was a baby. Although her records are sealed until she turns 18, Schmidtlein said she thinks she was born in this area, but she doesn’t know at which hospital.

“I think I do [want to find out about my birth family,]” Schmidtlein said. “My brother is adopted, and he turned 18 a while ago, and he doesn’t want to know, but I kind of want to know.”

According to Schmidtlein, she mainly wants to obtain this information to know her medical history and nationality, but also because it is “really interesting to know someone who most likely has a lot of things in common with you.”

“I’ve found there’s some things my parents have in common with me that is obviously nurture, like how I was raised, but a lot of our likes and what we’re good at are really different,” Schmidtlein said. “It’d be really interesting to know what my birth parents were good at, and what I have in common [with them].”

Aside from this curiosity, being adopted has not impacted Schmidtlein’s life in any big ways, according to her.

“My parents are my parents,” Schmidtlein said. “It’s just always been [a fact]: ‘You’re adopted.’ They never sat me down and were like, ‘You were adopted’ … It’s never been a big deal.”

However, given that Schmidtlein and her brother were adopted through Catholic Charities, the family has remained active in their support for the institution, helping to organize functions and participating in fundraisers.

“My parents just put on a gala for Catholic Charities, so [being adopted] has been on my mind,” Schmidtlein said. “[My family members are] just really thankful to have each other.”

McKenzie Grimaldi

Eight children: five are adopted, three are not, but all are part of the same family – the Grimaldi family.

According to sophomore McKenzie Grimaldi, who was adopted from Jefferson City, Mo., her parents decided to adopt children after her mother, a nurse at Children’s Mercy Hospital, saw all the kids in need at the hospital.

“I used to think that since my three older sisters aren’t adopted, my mom liked them more than she liked [her adopted children],” Grimaldi said. “I’m hers, but she gave birth to [my older sisters], so I used to be like, ‘You like them more, and that’s why they get all this stuff,’ but that’s not true.”

In fact, Grimaldi said the most obvious difference between her and her parents is their skin color.

“It’s different,” Grimaldi said. “I’m African-American and my mom isn’t, and my friends who are adopted are Caucasian and so are their parents, so I stand out in my family, but [my friends] don’t.”

According to Grimaldi, she has been told that she looks like her biological father, although she hasn’t met him. However, she has known her birth mother since she was a child, and they visit a few times a year on special occasions.

“We call her ‘Mama Donna’” Grimaldi said. “I kind of think of her as another mom, but I also don’t. I know she gave birth to me, but I haven’t been with her all this time, so it’s kind of hard to say she’s like another mom.”

According to Grimaldi, when people ask her what it is like to be adopted, she tells them it is the same as if someone lives with biological parents.

“[Being adopted is] obviously not exactly the same because you’re not with your biological parents, but I’m treated just the same as if I were,” Grimaldi said. “[My parents] love me just as much.”

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Olivia Bellatin

Olivia Bellatin is an STA junior. She plays soccer, and she is part of Rotary Interact Club. But she could have ended up on the streets, begging for food. She could have lived in a small house with a dirt floor in Lima, Peru.

When Bellatin’s 14-year-old birth mother gave her up for adoption, this was the life from which Bellatin was spared.

“[Being adopted] makes me appreciate things more,” Bellatin said. “It also made me respect that [my birth mom] gave me up. I know she wanted to keep me, but she lived in a house with a dirt floor and she was working and she couldn’t [afford to have me].”

According to Bellatin, although she has seen a picture of her biological mother, she has never met her.

“I want to at least meet her one day and see what she’s like,” Bellatin said. “I want to see if she’s like me at all. Other than that, she’s not really part of my life. Adoption doesn’t really come up [in conversation]. Everyone just accepts it, and they don’t question it.”

When the topic does come up, Bellatin said it is usually because people are trying to guess her ethnicity, which has been misidentified as African-American and Native American.

Despite adoption’s minimal impact on her everyday life, Bellatin said she would “definitely adopt” when she is older and ready to start a family.

“I want my own children, but I think the idea of adoption is really good,” Bellatin said. “Like me, I would have lived in a terrible home, and adoption saved me from that.”