Rebecca Balfe is a former editor for Love What Matters. She resides in NYC, owning and rescuing adorable cats. She is an avid Lupus fighter and advocate.
‘WHAT DID I JUST SIGN MYSELF UP FOR?’ I made a mistake saying I could foster by myself. What was I thinking?’: Single mom shares foster care adoption journey
“I was at the gym when I got the call. He was a biracial 14-month-old boy. ‘He can’t walk or talk. Are you interested in taking him in?’ I could have easily said no. About 45 minutes later, the investigator dropped him off at my house. Neither of us knew we had just met our forever family.”
‘Oh my God!,’ I gasped as I frantically pawed at my hair, as if I could find those absent hairs hiding just out of sight. ‘How long has it been like this?!’
“I quickly showered and washed my hair the morning of our first son’s baptism. We were running late, so I grabbed a brush and hair tie and resolved to do my hair in the car. I flipped down the visor. My eyes caught, to my horror, a glimpse of my new hairline. I shrieked.”
‘She will probably never walk, but hey, these types of kids are always happy.’ Happy? I grieved for the daughter I thought I was going to bring home.’
“How was I going to be able to take care of my daughter? I wasn’t ‘special,’ I had no idea what to do! The doctor never even touched her. I realized my daughter was put in a box. A box of old school thinking and treatment.”
‘As soon as she checked with the doppler she knew. And deep down I knew. I just prayed I was wrong. All I could get out is ‘why isn’t it flickering?’ They just said ‘we are trying to figure that out.’ Woman shares life after stillbirth
“I screamed, asking if it was her cord that caused it over and over.”
‘Is it normal to hate your baby?’ I was desperately begging for God to kill her. What’s wrong with me? I was terrified of what I would do to her.’: Woman overcomes ‘debilitating’ postpartum depression
“I decided I would talk to my OBGYN when I went for my next check up. Little did I know, I wouldn’t be able to make it until then. My mom was going to leave to go home and I begged her not to. I was terrified of what I would do.”
‘Nervously, we asked what was happening. ‘Are you sitting down? The birth mother is having twins.’ Our tears of joy were replaced with complete shock.’: Gay dads welcome ‘beautiful and healthy twins’ after adoption journey
“I instantly begin crying. ‘Can someone please get the other dad?!’ A nurse says, ‘Sure, where is he?’ ‘Waiting in the delivery room.’ Nick rushed into the recovery unit with the most happy, surprised, and confused look. ‘They are BOTH here?'”
‘One boy said, ‘Why is she even in here? She’s f—king crippled!’ I ignored it, but it would get worse. My mom and I got into a huge argument. She stopped, and looked at me in shock.’
“One day someone came to talk to me at lunch. I thought, ‘Finally someone wants to be my friend!’ Instead, they cut me off by saying, ‘If I was you I would kill myself because I couldn’t live like that.'”
‘You’re lucky I’m with you, because you’re really fat.’ I was always the smart girl with a pretty face, never the total package.’: Woman overcomes bullying, depression to carry out weight loss, ‘I transformed into a warrior’
“From the moment I started school, I was always the biggest kid in class. At one point, I was pulled out of school for 8 weeks. Rumors started. I heard a group of girls talking about how I should have never come back. I was a ‘pig.’ Trying to fit in and make every test an A+ began to get harder and harder. I was desperate for love and acceptance. My life quickly spiraled out of control.”
‘We went out to eat. There was a family sitting beside us, obviously disgusted. That hurt. My ‘life choices’ interfere with their views.’: Gay dad of 3 adopted kids says ‘we ARE the new normal’
“I still remember what the room smelled like, I even remember what we were wearing. I couldn’t look away as if I was frozen. I knew instantly, this was the very moment I had prayed for.”
‘I am about to call you.’ My heart pounded. ‘Are you able to take in a newborn baby boy?’ I looked at my husband. ‘I guess we are doing this!’
“Her excitement was oozing out as she exclaimed, ‘The day is finally here!’ Yes, the day we had all been thinking about, fantasizing about, and trying to plan for, was finally here.”