“I’d wake up early enough to reapply makeup on top of the makeup I slept in then get back into bed so I could look ‘pretty’ for my boyfriend when he woke up.”
‘I’d PANIC when my father pulled up to the school. ‘Wendy is going to see the PIMPLE doctor!’: Woman overcomes acne and mental health struggles
‘Here he comes,’ my OB said. The entire room fell into an ear-piercing silence. ‘Are you aware your son has abnormalities?’: Young mom celebrates ‘one in a million’ son born with limb differences
“I couldn’t find my voice. My brain was still processing. She placed him on my chest. He was so warm, so beautiful. As I took him in, the film ‘Wonde’r I’d watched during pregnancy flashed. I’d turned to my best friend and said, ‘I could never be ashamed of my child if they were born special. That’s all the more reason to treasure them.’ Gratitude filled my heart. I was chosen for this.”
‘There’s the heartbeat!’ She quickly moved to the other sac, ‘And there’s the OTHER heartbeat.’ Tears streamed down my face.’: Mom details IVF twin journey and gives advice on what to expect
“This story makes me crack WIDE open with vulnerability. But I felt so alone during the first few times I went through it. I can only hope I can provide a source of support, hope, and inspiration to others.”
‘At 16, I should’ve been going to sleepovers and sweet sixteens. Instead, I was being sold to men, repeatedly.’: Sex trafficking survivor graduates college with honors, advocates for others
“If I can turn my pain into empowerment to inspire others, then there is hope for those who are still stuck in the grips of human trafficking.”
‘Something felt off. With my gown tied in the back and birthing underpants peeking through, I shuffled in search of my baby.’: Mom shares journey of having 2 partially deaf children, ‘They are so much more than I imagined’
“No matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t see my child’s future. I was going to have to live it, right next to him. NOBODY is going to come and take this away from us.”
‘I know you can’t speak. Simply squeeze my hand. Was the chemo you had RED in color?’ My family began preparing their goodbyes.’: Breast cancer survivor becomes mom of 4, triplet mom via surrogacy
“I squeezed the doctor’s hand as tightly as I could. Within seconds an alarm rang, sirens sounded. Then I felt a voice, a presence, something within me telling me not to give up. This wasn’t the end, I had to find a way through. I held on with every fiber of my being.”
‘Is Mike really dead?’ I went to his funeral only yesterday. I spiraled.’: Woman shares journey with psychosis to break stigma, ‘It shouldn’t be a scary word’
“According to the media, I was going to become a lonely crazy person or a full-on murderer. It was only a matter of time before I became a monster.”
‘Watch out! Your legs are going to break!’ I stopped wearing shorts outside no matter how hot it was.’: Woman overcomes childhood body shaming, urges self-love for young girls
“‘You will never be loved.’ I was devastated. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at my naked body in the mirror.”
‘I failed the hearing test. Not once, not twice, but FOUR different times.’: Deaf woman becomes audiologist at childhood clinic
“Imagine living in a world where you did not hear the hustle and bustle of this noisy world we live in. The voices of your mother or father during the first several years of your life. To not be able to hear your family say ‘I love you’ or hear their voices singing sweet lullabies.”
‘I thought it was stress. When I began crying and shaking without triggers, I realized it was much more.’: Woman opens up about journey to bipolar disorder diagnosis, self-care
“My mom and doctors thought I was just another moody teenager. For a long time, I assumed what I was feeling was normal.”