This is my first official post on my blog. Today I am going to share some information on child abuse from previous knowledge. My brother is adopted, and he was officially adopted about two years ago. Before that, he was abused in his biological home, and again in his first foster home. He was in his biological home till he was two and a half. His biological mother just wasn't fit to take care of him, and she didn't really supervise him very well. In fact, when he was two and a half, he was found wandering in the median of a 4 lane highway right before he was removed from the home. Then, when he was placed into his first foster home, he was abused there. He has scars all over his head from being pushed into walls and doors, and he was never allowed to go outside. For punishment, he was withheld food and water, and when he did get fed, all his foster mom would feed him was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and water. When he didn't want to eat it, she would force it in his mouth. He absolutely hates peanut butter and jelly now. He was also locked in a room pretty much all the time with only a bed, a dresser, and a TV, which he was allowed to watch whatever he desired to watch, including things that were extremely inappropriate. Other punishments included making him look through the window and stare into the sun so it would hurt his eyes, and making him face a corner of the wall while she beat him with a wooden spoon. He was hospitalized twice for malnutrition before they finally realized that it was because he wasn't being fed. At that time, he was removed and put into a temporary foster home until they could find a permanent home for him. He was there for about two months before he came to live with us, and they treated him wonderfully. As soon as he came to live with us, we started the adoption process, and it was final in June of 2007. He has come a long way since he came to live with us, including his behavior and his ability to love other people. It took him a year before he would show my mom or me much affection because he didn't trust females. This is because the females in his early life abused him. All of this has affected me tremendously, and it has inspired me to adopt when I am old enough so I can save another child from their horrible life being abused and neglected.