Emily Richey is a graduate of Pace University NYC. She has written and edited for multiple online platforms, including Love What Matters. She spends her free time petting stray cats.
‘Why bother with contraception? You’ll never have children anyway.’ I wanted to give up.’: Young woman overcomes depression from PCOS, acne, ‘I keep blooming every day’
“I remember the distress I felt. ‘Why is my hard work not paying off?’ I just wanted to give up and hide from the world. I thought I wasn’t worthy of love. I mean, who could possibly love such an ugly face? At my lowest point, I met a boy. He made me realize I was so much more.”
‘It’s probably just fluid in his ears.’ He had a huge patch of white hair and wasn’t reacting to sounds. ‘I hear Mila Kunis has it too.’: Woman gives birth to son with Waardenburg syndrome, ‘All I see is my perfect baby’
“Over the course of 9 months, it never once occurred to us there could be something wrong. The day before we left the hospital, a nurse casually mentioned, ‘Cooper hasn’t passed his mandatory newborn screening.’ I did a little research. By the time we got the diagnosis, I already knew.”
‘The bus was the highlight of her day. She would confidently climb the stairs and hop into her seat.’: Couple buys real school bus for Autistic daughter, ‘The look on her face was worth all the struggles’
“We finally arrived at the location. We all got out and began talking over everything and went to get on the bus to get a thorough look at it. Braylee didn’t miss a beat. She hopped right into the bus, fastened herself right into the harness, and began singing loud and proudly, ‘Wheels on the Bus.’”
‘I’m going to throw up.’ He looked like an unfamiliar creature. Everything I expected went out the window.’: Woman gives birth to twin preemies at 24 weeks, ‘We knew this would be the greatest fight of our lives’
“A nurse said, ‘Do you want a picture?’ I abruptly said, ‘No.’ I was trying to erase the past 6 hours from my memory. I didn’t even know if my baby would survive. Why would I want a picture or anything that would make me feel attached to this little creature? Baby B was barely alive.”
‘You could have an abortion. At least save yourself.’ I was pregnant with my first baby, and planning his funeral.’: Woman encouraged to terminate baby with down syndrome, ‘We can’t control what our lives will bring us’
“A week later, I got a phone call from the abortion clinic to schedule an appointment. It turns out my doctor and his wife aborted their child with down syndrome because they thought he or she would become a burden. He thought I should do the same.”
‘It can’t be bad, you’re young. You look fine.’ I questioned whether my symptoms were in my head.’: Single mom diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, ‘I don’t know what tomorrow has in store, but I’m ready to fight’
“I went from busy full days of work to barely handling the commute. I struggled to keep up with other moms my age. Misconceptions such as, ‘Young people can’t get it,’ and ‘You look totally healthy,’ infuriated me. It’s not just a disease for the elderly. I wasn’t fighting only for myself, but also my son.”
‘3 weeks after our trip to Disney, I stared at a black and white image with a mass that took up a third of my son’s brain.’: Dad urges ‘never take a day of normalcy for granted’ during quarantine after losing son to brain tumor
“We were isolated for 28 days in the hospital room. He was immunocompromised. Our world consisted of hand sanitizer, hospital masks, and surgical gloves to avoid contamination. As we watch the news, we hear the increasing mortality rates for coronavirus, some 3%. I would’ve given anything to hear those numbers for my son. Normalcy was ripped from our hands.”
‘If you want to go, we will let you. If you want to fight, we’ll fight forever.’ She didn’t want us to suffer.’: Mom loses baby to Pulmonary Atresia, Intact Ventricular Septum, ‘She made heaven so much bigger’
”I asked my Gramma once, ‘Why do day-lilies only last for one day?’ She just smiled at me and said, ‘Well sweetie, when you are that beautiful, I guess one day is enough.’ We woke up and headed to our baby’s room. We were greeted in the hallway by one of her doctors. ‘I don’t think she’s going to make it through the day.’ We promised to do whatever she wanted.”
‘She wasn’t getting enough air. She was almost gasping and was quite purple. It was pure torture.’: Woman gives birth to baby girl with Treacher Collins Syndrome, ‘Her disability won’t hold her down’
“I noticed her ear looked small, but I chalked it up to the typical squishiness of a newborn. ‘So what? What is the point of showing me her differences?’ She has underdeveloped ears, cheekbones, and jaw that make her appear a little different than most of us. I just stared at her in awe, with nothing but love and admiration.”
‘What are we supposed to do?’ It must be my fault. I turned to Google for answers and was terrified.’: Mom has surprise baby with Down syndrome, ‘Life looks a lot different now than it did 5 years ago’
“She asked us, ‘Did you know he has Down syndrome?’ I was a little shocked. We told her, ‘No, we haven’t noticed.’ She simply said, ‘Well, he does,’ and walked straight out of the room. Her tone and her demeanor were so condescending. I instantly felt fear, anger, and guilt wash over. There were no offers for resources, no books or pamphlets, no direction on what to do next.”