“‘Maybe I’m just a late bloomer.’ The doctor struggled to get the words out. Tears filled my eyes. Everyone I knew was beginning the family, and I longed for a baby of my own.”
‘I immediately lost it. ‘I’m NEVER going to be able to have kids of my own’ was on repeat in my head.’: Woman shares emotional infertility journey
‘Poor thing.’ It’s not something to avoid or pull your children away from at the playground. It’s pure, unfiltered joy.’: Special needs mom advocates for Down Syndrome acceptance
“It’s giving zero F–KS, wearing what makes you happy, and being proud of how you look. It’s loving people for exactly who they are and showing everyone kindness without expecting anything in return.”
‘The excitement of a normal poop, the pain seeing your child poked 1,000 times, the strength to continue walking inside.’: Hospital mom describes emotional journey during NICU Awareness Month
“The late night calls of a parent, the early morning calls of an emergency, pressing a button on an incubator before you can touch your child, the longing to rock your baby to sleep just one time.”
‘Love doesn’t have a color.’: Foster parents refuse to give up on traumatized boy, adopt him into forever home
“People would read his file and get scared away. But I knew he was a good child who had experienced a lot of trauma.”
‘We can’t see why you can’t have children.’ I felt like there was something wrong with me.’: Mom struggling with infertility shares emotional journey to adopt
“I could have fallen into a puddle on the floor, but that’s not what happened. In the midst of tragedy, these words kept pressing on my heart: ‘GOD ISN’T FINISHED.’”
‘I awoke to three strangers standing in our living room, grave concern on their faces. ‘Their mom hasn’t been here.’ I was driven away by police car, anxious and confused.’: Former foster youth urges ‘you aren’t your circumstances’
“We finally arrived at our destination. A modest green house with a chain link fence. Standing at the sidewalk was a petite elderly woman with a white t-shirt, floral skirt, and hair pulled in a high bun. She greeted me with a smile. ‘Hi Jamerika,’ she said, as if she knew me her whole life.”
‘Your average couple, we started trying to conceive. Here we are, three years later, with no children.’: Woman battling unexplained infertility thanks support group, ‘We aren’t meant to go through trials alone’
“All my friends getting pregnant, I started to feel the weight of bitterness set in. It was then I reached out to a support group. This is not a community women want to be a part of, but it is one that has each other’s back. It’s a sisterhood.”
‘She’s gonna have to get over it!’ Then I thought to myself, ‘What about when I’m upset?’: Mom to daughter with anxiety urges ‘stop asking kids to act more maturely than we do’
“Imagine you’re two. You have no idea how to regulate your emotions. You’re startled by something you don’t understand, and instead of being offered comfort, you’re told to ‘get over it.'”
‘The entire night he gleamed from ear to ear.’: Community rallies to include boy with autism, rare diseases in school marching band and make his dreams come true
“Disability does not define who a person is. It is simply a different way of learning. A different view of the world. And our entire community opened their arms and hearts to my special little boy.”
‘Your breast milk is like skim milk.’ I felt alone and lost, like something was wrong with me.’: Mom shares stresses of breastfeeding journey
“I didn’t buy any bottles or read how to use my pump. I cried in agony and shame. I sacrificed my freedom, time, energy, sleep, and breasts for only a few ounces.”