This is the first article of the series, “Adoption within Bullitt East.”

Meisha Keown has gone through big transitions in the younger parts of her life.  From skipping a grade, being the youngest in a grade, and being on a national cheer team.  But the biggest transition she went through is being adopted.

“I was five months old when I was adopted into the Keown family,” said Keown.

Being adopted at such a young age, Keown doesn’t remember much.  She grew up knowing that blood does not make you family.  Love is what makes you family. 

“My biological parents didn’t take care of my brother and me properly.  They didn’t send our other siblings to school enough, they didn’t take us to doctor’s appointments, we just didn’t get the basic needs that a kid needs,” she said.

Keown still is in contact with her biological family and has a stable relationship with them.  Understanding that they gave her and her brother up for their own good has been a blessing for her.  

“I am proud that my parents stepped up and have given me the best life they can.  I have no regrets because it has made me who I am today,” Keown said.  She knows who she is and is proud of it and that’s great.  

She is a smart, sophisticated, and funny person to be around.  From her mother she became loving.  From her father, she learned how to take care of and stick up for herself.  From her siblings, she has learned what family is.  Everything she has gone through built her up.  

“I don’t like not knowing my genetic history and having to wait until I am older to find out my ethnicity and who my ancestors were,” says Keown.  Websites like ancestry.com can help Keown with things like that but it also costs money.  

Each day Keown wonders what her genetic history looks like and how she can find out.  It is not the easiest at the age she is now.  

“The best thing that has come from adopting Meisha is that I get to be her mom.  It has opened my eyes to a world of diversity.  It has taught me how to acknowledge and embrace differences rather than act like they don’t exist,”  Becky Keown said.

With having 8 adopted children you can imagine how busy and fulfilled she and her husband’s life is.

“Being Meisha’s dad has made me and my family better people.  God put us together and I truly believe that,” John Keown said.  

At a young age, John and Becky Keown adopted two of their nieces that later became Meisha’s older sisters, Brittney and Brionna Keown. 

“I remember finding out that I’d have another younger sister and jumping up and down.  Over the years we have made many memories and I am glad we became family.  Meisha is truly my best friend,” Brionna Keown said.  

God brought this family together and knew they would be perfect.  If you are struggling with being adopted or know someone that is, Meisha is a great person to reach out to and will definitely make a difference in your life.