I have made a decision that I want to be adopted. My parents are illgetimate drunks and in their eyes the only person that exists in my brother. People might here that and say oh she is just overeacting,but no I am actually making an understatement. Everyone around me notices it,and is says "that isn't fair". It isn't like I am starving for attention or anything. It is just that me and my brother(my brother has done a lot of VERY serious things that I would not even imagine doing!) can do the same thing,and he gets excuses made for him(he isn't like disabled or anything,he is perfectly normal!),but I get cussed out and called all kind of names,and they tell me you are "going to grow up and find yourself in a corner talking to yourself", or they tell me "you are a stupid b&*%$" and just last night, my mother said "I'm going to have some *people*(she actually said their names) beat your a&%. It has been times when my mother has been in one of her drunken rages and started blaming me for her problems. I don't want to go into foster care. I just want to be adopted,and would like to know the process?

How old are you? Are your parents willing to sign you away?

I'm 16. Yes.

Honey, the odds of someone wanting to adopt a 16 year old are VERY low.

Most people wanting to adopt are looking for a small child or infant to raise, not a 16 year old with her own problems that is just going to move out in 2 years.

The best place for you to start is with your school counselor. You cannot put yourself up for adoption as a minor. In addition, without knowing parents who will adopt you ahead of time, your parents cannot simply relinquish their rights and let the state (on taxpayer money) try to place you, and no adoption agency is going to have any idea what to do with you.

Your best bet actually MIGHT be foster care. You could live in a stable home, with people who care for you, without the expense and added legal issues surrounding an adoption.

Talk to your school counselor. In your area, there might be other options as well. Your counselor will have a much better idea what those options are, and can help you determine what the next step to take should be.