For National Adoption Day, Kristin Chenoweth just wrote an absolutely perfect essay about her own adoption

November 21 is National Adoption Day, and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth wrote a moving essay for People about her experiences as an adopted child. She shares that she was adopted when she was just one week old, and her parents, Jerry and Junie, never kept her adoption a secret.

“Growing up, my parents explained my adoption by telling me, “We chose you.” It was a wonderful way to put it to an adopted child,” the Wicked star writes. “And I think it’s true. An adoption is a full-circle blessing.”

Kristin acknowledges how incredibly difficult it can be for birth parents to decide to give their child a better life, describing the experience as a sacrifice. However, she says, “what a gift they are giving to both that child and the family who wants to adopt.”

To those who have adopted or are considering adoption, Kristin reflects on the huge but wonderful responsibility of raising a child as your own. “It’s a beautiful blessing that you were chosen to take care of this child and become his or her parent,” she says.

And to kids who have been adopted, Kristin speaks from personal experience when she says that there is a weird pressure to have to explain your family situation to other people. “I’m not saying it’s not hard or that it’s easy for people to understand,” she muses. “But it really isn’t for the world to understand; it’s for the people who are involved.” So true! Families come in all shapes and sizes and do not need to be explained to anyone.

Kristin offers a moving tribute to her adopted parents. “If anything,” she says, “I would thank my birth mother for loving me enough to make such a huge sacrifice. It’s a great gift for me to be able to say: ‘I know that I came from love, and I know that I have love.’”

For the full, beautiful essay, check out People!

(Image via Instagram.)