“They have been unable to find a reason why this happened. I didn’t go out of the country while pregnant, I wasn’t exposed to Zika. He didn’t have a stroke in utero, and there is no gene to blame. We had no idea there was anything wrong before he was born. His whole life has been an emotional whirlwind. I wouldn’t have chosen this for him or for us, but I wouldn’t change it either.”
‘He was born looking like he’d been in a boxing match. His face was bruised, but no one seemed very concerned about it.’: Baby is born with microcephaly, ‘I truly see Grayson as the blessing he is’
‘After rehab, I manipulated my mom into dropping me off at a bar. ‘I’m not an alcoholic.’ I got drunk and high that night.’: Woman overcomes heroin and alcohol addiction, ‘God put me on this earth to make an impact’
“I knew nothing about heroin. But I did it. That missing feeling I had inside of me for so long was gone. It felt warm and like I was being hugged. It felt like I had arrived. In my mind, I was a heroin addict, not an alcoholic. I got drunk and got high that night. I would share needles with whoever. I found out I had contracted Hepatitis C. One of my best friends, who I used with, had been sober for 18 months. If she could do it, so could I.”
‘It was pizza day in school. ‘Your face looks like a pepperoni.’ My friend got up and slapped the guy.’: Woman born with port wine stain learns to embrace her beauty, ‘I needed to be myself’
“I was born with a big Port Wine Stain, covering half of my face. They would only laser a small part of my birthmark at a time because it was so painful. My mom recalls ‘the smell of burned skin getting in her nose.’ As I got older, I felt people staring more. Adults would stop in the middle of the sidewalk. ‘Wow.’ Kids would point. ‘Look at that.’ Imagine a little girl asking a grown woman, ‘Can I help you?’ That was me growing up.”
‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘Shocked.’ But the relief I felt was unreal. Tears streamed down my face.’: Woman diagnosed with autism at 30, ‘Autism is not something I have. It’s who I am.’
“As my phone began to ring, I noticed there was no caller ID. My heart skipped a beat, my throat tightened, and I froze. I knew this was it. Why were they calling now? This was not a good time. My report was ready. I felt the blood rush to my head. I was walking through a busy street. Tears streamed down my face. I had waited for forever. Why had we not seen it for so many years? I was 30 years old – so much of my life had been a lie.”
‘They blurted out, ‘Omg, look at IT!’ Children ran up with cell phones, loudly yelling and recording me. I left the store traumatized.’: Woman with dwarfism shares unique journey
“When I wake up every morning, I don’t look in the mirror and see dwarfism. But I know once I step outside the door, somebody will remind me. A common question is, ‘What do you want to be called? Dwarf, little person, LP, midget?’ I would like to be called Amy, because that’s my name. At the end of the day, I want people to remember who I am, not what I look like.”
‘Be careful not to startle him with sudden sounds.’ ‘A loud sound could kill our boy?!’ We were terrified.’: Baby boy with extremely rare LQT Syndrome, Microcephaly, Deafness defies all odds
“While rocking Azariah to sleep for his nap, he went stiff in my arms. I turned the light on and things changed drastically. He started to convulse and foam at the mouth. I ran downstairs and called 911. Two minutes went by and he was turning blue. I lay him down and gave him 3 breaths. ‘How in the world did this happen to OUR son, why OUR son?’ No one else in the world was known to have the same genetic deletions.”
‘I began violently shaking. Through my locked jaw, I muttered, ‘I’m addicted to heroin.’ My family had no idea.’: Woman overcomes addiction, ‘I am so thankful for this new life’
“I was living two separate lives. ‘Just this one time,’ I told myself as I inhaled my first line of cocaine one month after my best friend’s funeral. I would wake up, do a line. Go to class, do a line in the bathroom. Go home, do a line. Then came the needle. I felt the warm release of the heroin shooting through my veins. My stepdad found me. I couldn’t move, my body instantly got cold. ‘Oh, sweetheart. You don’t look like an addict.’ I lay there for what felt like forever, fading in and out of consciousness.”
‘This child will be a burden to you.’ Her chocolate eyes shot through my screen. ‘Oh, crap.’ A feeling washed over. ‘There you are, my child.’: Woman adopts girl with spina bifida, epilepsy
“A feeling washed over me. The exact same wave that washed over when they placed my biological children on my chest in the delivery room. ‘There you are, my child.’ Stroking my cheek, I felt her 28 pounds snuggle into mine. ‘Mommy, I’m so glad you found me in Armenia. I missed you even when I didn’t know you.’ She fed my soul, and she doesn’t even know it.”
‘Beth, there are police at your house. Are you ok?’ I found my son handcuffed to a hospital bed, drugged.’: Mom advocates for son with severe autism, PANDAS, ‘Don’t ever give up on your child’
“I locked my daughter in her room. ‘He’s gonna get me. Mama, save me.’ He bit my arms, hands, and chest, drawing blood with each bite. I begged him to stop. It was too late. He was not him. I fell beside the couch. I felt like a battered wife, except it was my child. My child who, after a rage, would cry and kiss me, looking at me with big, sad eyes, begging me to ‘fix it.’ I wasn’t mad at him. I was completely broken.”