You Grew in My Heart Instead — Kelli Babbitt

This book was written to show kids both biological and adopted that we all have things about us that are both similar and different regardless of our blood ties to our families. We wanted our daughter who is adopted to know that it is perfectly okay for her not to look exactly like us. It is okay if her skin tone is a little darker than ours. This does not make her strange or different than other children; it just makes her a unique person who has her own looks and personality. Even though she didn't grow in my womb, I could not love her any more if she did. It shows that adopted children grow in their adoptive parents' hearts instead of their wombs. Unlike a biological child, many times the adopted child has been growing in their parents' hearts for many years before they actually became a family, because of the longing for a child that often accompanies adoption.