At 13 years old, TikToker Lexie (@dietcokemamaa) entered the foster care system. Two years later, she was adopted at 15, something many kids in care hope and wait for.
But she ended up getting kicked out of the house when she turned 18, all because she wanted to message a boy on a phone that she was paying for on her own. Apparently, that was the breaking point.
What she described as a relatively small disagreement escalated quickly. Instead of a conversation or a compromise, her mom drained her savings account and kicked her out with the clothes she wanted her to have.
Her mom proceeded to give away the rest of her clothes to other family members, and she would see them posting pictures wearing the clothes on social media.
The financial disputes didn’t stop there. Her mom also took her tuition refund check from college, signed it, and deposited it into her own bank account. According to Lexie, she has proof of the fraudulent deposit from the bank.
When Lexie kept asking for her official documents, such as her birth certificate and Social Security card, so she could get a job, her mom threatened to file a restraining order against her.
It is now Lexie’s three-year adoption anniversary, and her mom hasn’t called or texted to acknowledge the milestone. However, she posts all about the adoption anniversaries of her sisters, who were adopted after Lexie, on social media. The silence speaks louder than anything else.
For Lexie, her adoption anniversary feels complicated. It was less of a celebration and more like a slap in the face—a reminder that she hadn’t received the better life she was promised.
Sometimes, the hardest part of entering a new family isn’t getting used to new people. It’s navigating what happens when that family doesn’t turn out the way you hoped.
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Adoption can be far more complex than what people think. It can be beautiful and life-changing, but it can also be very layered, involving trauma, complicated family dynamics, and expectations that don’t always align on both sides. In some cases, reaching the age of legal adulthood can shift the dynamic entirely.
Young adults like Lexie who don’t have access to critical documents or financial resources because of a lack of parental support, can have a difficult time integrating into society.
Without identification or savings, even basic steps toward independence, such as securing a job or getting an apartment, become that much harder.
Lexie is now focused on healing from the past, creating chosen family, building her own stability, and establishing independence, even if it means doing it without the people who once legally promised to care for her. She is happily married, lives in Nashville, and is busy raising a toddler.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
