Hello and welcome to my site. I am Merika Reagan, born Marika Benson in San Francisco on March 26, 1975. After spending the first three months of my life in the hospital I ended up in foster care and adopted many years later. Who I am today is largely shaped by my experiences in foster care and being adopted. As an adult it seems other than therapy there really are not many places to talk about and get support around these type of early life experiences. The few places that do exist have super long waiting list that I gave up on or just do not really speak to my experiences. This is a space for me and other people that survived foster care and adoption to talk about how these early life experiences have shaped us into the adults we are today as well as how every aspect of our lives are affected. For almost all of my adult life people have been telling me that I need to share my story. There is power in your story they would say. There is healing in your story they would say. There is a powerful healing in your story, Healing for you when you tell it and healing for so many when they hear it. It has taken this long plus listening to the stories of others for me to be brave enough to tell my story. If this proves to be healing for just one person it is worth it. I am still learning how to tell all of my story. Like all stories it is both good and bad, sad and happy, upsetting and calming. I take pride in being a survivor. Some folks do a ton of research and fact checking before telling there story. Some folks will interview friends and family members as well as check legal documentation and records before telling their story. I am not telling my story in that way. It is more important for me to tell it the way it was told to me and the way I remember it because it is those memories that have shaped me into the person I am today. Here goes...