Simone Biles just came back from the Tokyo Olympics, winning a bronze medal for the women’s balance beam, a silver for the artistic team all-around, and the hearts of millions by standing up for herself and her mental health while competing. In an Instagram Story earlier this week, she asked fans for their “unpopular opinions” so she could engage with them about it. One fan wrote in “abortion is wrong,” and Biles decided to address it personally.

“I already know this is going to start the biggest argument & may even lose followers BUT I’m very much pro-choice,” Biles answered. “Your body. Your choice.”

Biles also reminded her fans that she’s a foster child herself and that the adoption and fostering a child aren’t exactly simple solutions or necessarily a valid counter-argument to someone’s right to choose.

“Also for everyone gonna say ‘just put it up for adoption’ it’s not that easy & coming from someone who was in the foster care system TRUST me foster care system is broken & it’s TOUGH especially on the kids & young adults who age out & adoption is expensive … im just saying.”

image 863 Motherly

Simone Biles/Instagram

After Biles and her younger sister were placed into foster care when Biles was just three years old, she was adopted by her maternal grandfather, Ron, and his second wife, Nellie. Her mother was addicted to drugs and in and out of jail a lot when she was young, Biles has previously said. Ron and Nellie adopted both girls three years after they first entered foster care.

In her story, she reminded her followers that adoption is astronomically expensive and not something everyone who wants to adopt can afford. She also said that those who “couldn’t keep a mask on or refused to wear one” weren’t welcome to attack her for her views (she was likely referring to the way some have co-opted the “my body, my choice” expression—also worth noting that pregnancy is not a contagious plague).

After she received lots of responses, Biles took to Twitter to clarify her stance. She has experienced and witnessed the downfalls of the foster system personally (and the disparities within the system as a Black woman), but she still supports foster care regardless.

data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version=”4″ style=” background:#FFF; border:0;
border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);
margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% – 2px);
width:calc(100% – 2px);”>

“I did NOT say I support to abort rather than to put them through the foster care system. What I did imply is that you should not control someone elses body/decision.”

Each year, approximately 20,000 youth will age out of the foster care system when they turn 18 or 21 in the U.S. According to Adopt US Kids, kids who age out are at increased risk of poor educational outcomes, experiencing homelessness, and being unemployed.

While many people may not agree with Biles’ views, they can’t deny her experience. Her first-hand knowledge directly impacted her stance on abortion—because she knows that most foster kids don’t get adopted into loving homes like she did.