In 2012, I had the opportunity to go abroad for a portion of the summer to Sao Paulo, Brazil, where I played basketball for a USA team, while also volunteering with and advocating for the youth of Brazil.

NCFA President and CEO Chuck Johnson: "The culture of adoption in America has changed so much since the time my father was adopted as a baby. In those days, adoption was a personal subject, not something that families openly discussed. My first real awareness of adoption was when I was a teenager and began to learn about my father’s adoption. Adoption has become my lifelong passion, and I have dedicated the past 28 years to the field."

Last year, my family adopted two teenage girls through foster care, and during National Foster Care Month I want to tell our story. If you’re considering adoption, please take the first step and learn more.

Read on to learn about famous adopted individuals, and what their stories tell us about the past, present, and future of adoption around the world.

Intern Natalie Stack and our social media community share what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Four years ago I met a little girl. She was 10 years old, fifty pounds and looked like she was maybe six or seven. Her hair was scruffy, her face dirty and her eyes mischievous. She had tiny features, bright eyes and a crooked smile. She wore baggy jeans tied with a rope belt, and on her tiny frame she wore an extra-large boy’s t-shirt. The rest of her clothes were stuffed in a black garbage bag.

Why did we adopt? It’s simple, we had one biological child, but felt we had the capacity to love and provide for more children even if they weren't our biological children. There’s a great need for loving families for children in foster care, and if you love and want children, adoption is a worthwhile option to consider. We found adoption to be an excellent investment of our time and resources. Perhaps one family’s mission is to foster, and another to foster to adopt, but we were blessed to experience both.

Over two years ago, in the middle of an ordinary day, the extraordinary happened, and my family will never be the same.

Lauren Koch writes about the blessing of adoption in her life.

The story of a young woman who found herself facing an unintended pregnancy.