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Forrest Lang is a father, military veteran, tattoo artist, author, and survivor of child sexual abuse (CSA). His story is one of surviving homelessness, sexual abuse by a family member, and sexual violence within the foster care system.

When Forrest Lang was 12 years old, he was taken out of his biological family's house after suffering years of abuse and placed in a foster home. There, his foster mother molested him until he was 16 years old.

"She tried to kill me in a murder-suicide,” Forest recounted to RAINN. “And then I lived on the street, homeless.”

Forrest joined the military at 18 as a Navy Corpsman. At a military-run spiritual growth retreat he attended, two years into his service, he shared his story for the first time.

"We were sitting in a circle, and people were encouraged to share traumatic experiences,” he said. “The chaplains told us to raise our hands if the same happened. Someone said they got molested, and I raised my hand. They asked if we were beaten up, and I raised my hand. Abandoned, I raised my hand. Starved, I raised my hand. In foster care, I raised my hand. My friend Maryam was with me, putting her hand on my shoulder every time I raised my hand.

“At the break, a staff member pulled me aside and asked, 'Do you need attention that bad? These people are trying to heal, and no one has had that much stuff happen to them.' I told my friend Maryam about what the staff member had said. She went straight to the staff member, screamed at her, and stood up for me. No one had ever stood up for me like that before. It was a massive milestone in my recovery."

Forrest was deployed to Iraq in 2004 with Lima Company 3/24 as a line Corpsman (combat medic), where he started tattooing. After he received an honorable discharge, he pursued a career as a tattoo artist and tried to move on from his past.

In 2016, while attempting to apply for a passport for an adventure to Iceland, Forrest contacted New York's Department of Public Health for a new birth certificate. There, he faced a startling truth: no record of a “Forrest Lang” existed. Forest said he realized had been adopted by a pedophile foster parent who sought to evade the reach of Child Protective Services. This understanding reignited memories he wished to outlive—haunting memories from a buried past of rape, starvation, poverty, and abuse.

Shaken to his very foundation, Forrest recognized the need for professional help.