“Every year during my annual exam, I asked to have my ‘tubes tied.’ My doctor always quickly refused. As I aged, I still didn’t want kids and neither did my partner. This time around, I was about to lose my health insurance. I was told the procedure was ‘reserved for women in their 30s or 40s who had at least 2 children.’ As an adult woman, I needed my husband’s blessing to make decisions about MY body. I was stunned.”
“At first, I didn’t think anything of it. I said, ‘Of course!’ When they saw it, they crossed themselves.”
“In a few weeks, we progressed from talking about our likes and dislikes to becoming ‘boyfriend’ and ‘girlfriend.’ He kept asking to come to my house. Finally, that day would come. My heart skipped a beat. I was 11, and he looked about 45.”
“She had recently given birth and stood there holding her adorable, tiny, perfect baby as the words came out of her mouth. I remember the pain and shock as she said those words to me. I cried into my pillow, ‘I’m not lucky, I am cursed.‘ But it wasn’t the end of our story.”
“All of my materials were stolen and vandalized. I would barter with my bullies. ‘If you’ll be nice to me for one lunch hour or recess, I’ll give you my lunch.’ I literally gave them everything I had, but everything wasn’t enough. There wasn’t a single morning I didn’t beg my mother to not make me go.”
“I walked out of my gym. Our eyes locked and she immediately looked panicked. I paused because I didn’t want to interrupt her intimate moment.”
“We had a beautifully healed daughter. Our marriage was stronger than ever. That’s when everything changed, again. Words cannot describe how scared we were. We were again trying to hide our struggles behind fake smiles. That’s when they heard it.”
“I packed up our four kids, wrote a goodbye letter, and drove three hours away to a hotel.”
“‘You are having twins!’ I looked at my husband. We were in total shock. When we went to the doctor experiencing bleeding, we were sure something else was the issue — not twins. It was a dream come true. Minutes later, I sat on the toilet. I heard a ‘pop.’ I felt this flow of water between my legs.”
“I was close to starting my second trimester and knew I couldn’t go to the doctors without my parents’ knowledge. My brother came home to help me tell my them. They ragged on him for 4 hours about his life choices before I finally pulled the plug. ‘Mom, Dad. I’m pregnant.’ The next week was a daze of my parents trying figure out what to do while I tried to keep food down.”
