“We took my daughter for a routine hearing test. I impatiently asked my husband, ‘What’s taking them so long to start the test?’ His eyes widened. ‘Vanessa, are you kidding me? We’re half way through!’ I couldn’t hear a thing.”
‘The teacher called home. ‘Vanessa is not paying attention in class.’ I failed every hearing test. ‘What are you saying?!’ I started to think I just wasn’t smart.’: Woman with severe hearing loss receives eye-opening diagnosis after 33 years
‘I don’t think my heart can handle this.’ There was a newborn who needed a home. ‘If not me, then who?’: Family opens ‘hearts and home’ to foster care during pandemic
“As long as it means a child is safe and loved, I’m willing for my heart to be broken, over and over again.”
‘It’s not her, it’s him. She isn’t leaving.’ I sat there, wide-eyed, waiting for them to explain. I thought I was hurting my baby.’: Preemie warrior graduates NICU after emotional 67-day stay
“I told my husband I was heading to the hospital for fluids. ‘Same story, different day?’ The nurse turned the monitors away from me. That’s when everything changed.”
‘We should have the freedom to say, ‘The thought of reading with my kids makes me want to gouge my eyes out.’ Just be HONEST about it.’: Mom urges honest motherhood, ‘It doesn’t mean we don’t love them’
“I just want you to know you can say, ‘My kids were jerks today.'”
‘My brother is homeless and struggling with addiction. Every single day I cry for him, knowing the pain he goes through. I search for him ALL the time.’: Mother details sober journey after being prescribed pain pills
“I was fighting an addiction placed upon me by my doctor. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I go out there all the time to search for him.”
‘I came home at nineteen, married and pregnant. ‘You’re too young, you’ll regret this.’ ALL eyes were on me, waiting for a mistake.’: Pastor’s daughter details journey to discovering self-worth
“I drove out in the middle of nowhere. My plan was to hit a tree at a high rate of speed. And then my daughter called me.”
‘My world FROZE. ‘I’ll never get to do the things I want with her.’ Am I even cut out for this?’: New mom births ‘perfect’ baby girl with Down syndrome, ‘She is our angel’
“‘She looks like she has Down syndrome.’ I quickly brushed it off and told him he was overreacting. Then the pediatrician came in.”
‘Are you constantly aware of your heartbeat?’ I was confused. Couldn’t everyone feel their heartbeat all the time?.’: Woman overcomes two open-heart surgeries
“I vividly remember putting my signature on a piece of paper that said, ‘Side effects: stroke and death.’ I turned to my family and said, ‘I’ve just signed my life away.'”
‘As I was getting ready to terminate my foster license, I got the call: ‘Do you remember Hector?’ My eyes widened. 3 days later he walked into my life, forever.’: Single dad adopts son with autism after emotional journey
“‘This is it! We’re going to be a forever family!’ Hector ran towards me and jumped in my arms. He hugged me and squeezed me tight as he said, ‘I love you so much, I love you so, so much.’ There he was, the one I had cried, prayed, and hoped for.”
‘You’re newly pregnant and this little girl is a lot of work. If you need us to find her a new home, it’s okay.’ I didn’t want an ‘easier’ kid. I wanted her.’: Foster mom shares special needs adoption
“The social worker said, ‘This is the largest file I have.’ So much was going on. There was an intense amount of outer, anger, and lies. It broke me she was legally an orphan.”