I am adopted from Guatemala, and grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I speak English fluently and I am learning Spanish. I want to learn my native language that my mother spoke in Guatemala, which is Quiché. I was adopted at seven months, my birth name was José Felipe Tox Pop. I was raised by a caretaker before my father Jack Lain came to pick me up. My mother Josefina put me up for adoption not because she did not want me as a child, it was because I had a thyroid condition in which I need medication. My mother did not have enough money for the medication so it was her best decision to put me up for adoption to see if someone would adopt me and give me a better life in which I could have the medication I needed. I never knew my mother so when I was bullied in elementary school for not having a mother, I would always think that my mother never loved me or wanted me. Until I was told why I did not have mother, it was hard for me but knowing why just showed how much she loved me. She wanted me to have a better life, so when I think about why I chose Dominican I remember her. I wanna make her proud and one day I will go look for her, so she could see what her child turned out to be.