“One night when I was washing my hair, I couldn’t hold on to the shampoo. I finally decided it was time to see a doctor.”
‘I googled ‘losing motor skills.’ I thought I just had carpal tunnel. My arms are near completely paralyzed.’: Woman battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease shares journey
‘I’m SO GLAD that isn’t MY life.’ I wouldn’t be a good mom. Then, you guessed it, I was pregnant.’: Unexpected mom says daughter is her ‘reason for breathing’
“I found out I was pregnant the morning of my grandmother’s funeral.”
After Living In Secrecy For 27 Years, I Am Proud To Say I Am Intersex
“Walls were painted blue, gendered gifts purchased, and everyone in the delivery room was shocked when I entered the world with a vagina. And before I turned one year old, I was forcibly sterilized. Or, in simpler terms, castrated.”
‘I said goodbye to my kids at drop off, with a plan in place to be executed that afternoon.’: Mom of two celebrates 2 years sobriety, finds love
“To the outside, I was this happy-go-lucky, life of the party with no worries. I’d wake up with an empty bottle of wine next to my bed and no recollection of drinking it because I took an Ambien. I’d go to bed every night, begging to not wake up the next morning.”
‘We don’t know anything for sure, but…’ The doctor sat down with a grave expression.’: Mom gives birth to son with ultra-rare chondrodysplasia punctata
“I was swiftly and abruptly thrust into an entirely different world than any of my friends. I sat alone in the grief and stewed.”
‘I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. I was there for everyone else but not for myself.’: Limb difference advocate urges ‘stop comparing yourself to others’
“I was a people pleaser. ‘If I put their needs before mine, maybe they’ll like me more.’ Deep down, I wasn’t happy with myself.”
‘My lungs were running out of space. One by one, experts turned me away. I knew there was purpose in the pain.’: Osteogenesis Imperfecta warrior urges ‘life is worth fighting for’
“‘The risks are too great. You should just live with what you have left.’ I still felt in my heart this was something I needed to do.”
‘What happened to your face and neck?’ In the blink of an eye, my brother became a monster.’: Childhood abuse survivor urges ‘letting go is the best gift we can give ourselves’
“There were blue-black marks everywhere. One never truly knows how fragile life is until you nearly lose it.”
‘At 11, I already had a gym membership and a trainer. I had 5 medications by age 13.’: Woman on weight loss journey says ‘I need to be the healthiest me’
“I’d walk my dog and people would scream things out of their car windows. I even lost out on job opportunities because I did not ‘look’ the part. It was time to do something.”
‘We were warned, ‘She’ll only sleep on top of you in bed.’ She was terrified of books and baths.’: Mom candidly shares challenges of foster care, ‘I’m right where I want to be’
“I felt judged by medical professionals. They thought it was my fault she hadn’t seen a doctor yet in her 2 years of life. We’re all she has.”