“They were on video chat with a doctor from a different hospital. They told me something rare happened, something no one in this hospital has ever seen. This doctor was the only one who knew exactly what to do. It’s been 2 years, but today, we happened to be back at the hospital where he happened to be working.”
“My husband’s father looked up from his paper. ‘Your cousin is losing his rights to his child and is looking for someone in the family to adopt her.’ And just like that, he went back to reading his paper. We both looked at each other. He didn’t even have to ask me. ‘Yes, us.'”
“I went to my bedroom and packed everything as fast as I could. My phone pinged. ‘You’ve got 1 new voicemail!”
“We had no family history of it. When we got the news, I was thinking we had some quack doctor in the middle of the desert trying to diagnose my son by smelling his breath. He added, ‘If you waited 3 hours, he would’ve died in the car.’ My heart broke into a million pieces.”
“We were so happy, trying to have a baby, talking marriage. A month later, I got the call I’ll never forget.‘Tom overdosed last night. They think it was accidental… pills and vodka.’ I kept repeating, ‘What am I supposed to do? What do I do now?’ I’d never felt so lost in my life.”
“Our son with Down syndrome had just battled multiple heart failures and a stroke. Us: ‘Let’s have another kid.’ Universe: ‘Hold my beer.’ Our life was like a TV show playing out in real time.”
“There we were, in and out of court, screaming in the street during drop-off like a Jerry Springer episode. At some point we realized it’s easier to put our differences aside and to co-parent these kids together.”
“I remember calling my sister to tell her our ‘news.’ Maybe it was funny at the time, but as the years went by and my womb remained empty, this prank became cruel and nowhere near funny. I know this is typically just an innocent prank, but to others, it might not be funny at all.”
“I went to bed, buried myself under the comforters, and cried until there was nothing left. He would never work at his father’s firm, never give me grandchildren, and would probably never live independently.”
“Emily was such a gifted kid. I was the jealous older brother. I always thought she would be going places. Until things changed. We received a large inheritance from our grandmother’s passing. It was like a switch. ‘I never want to see or speak to you again,’ I said to my sister.”
