“From the outside looking in, we were the perfect family. ‘Maybe if we just take this one vacation, everything will magically change.’ I felt worthless and unloved. My boys were the only thing that made life worthwhile.”
‘Why did you keep having kids if you weren’t happy?’ I was the ‘bad guy’ for breaking up my family.’: Single mom of 4 navigates life after divorce, ‘Happiness comes first’
‘I have two toddlers that need a place to stay.’ He was nonverbal, drug-exposed, and had a brain lesion. We were terrified.’: Military family adopts brothers from foster care, ‘Miracles happen every day’
“We decided to put our YES out there and let God take care of the rest. The social workers started bringing in medical equipment, trash bags full of belongings. It was magical and heartbreaking all at the same time.”
‘What am I doing wrong?’ Our typically fun little boy seemed like a shell of himself. He didn’t like being touched or hugged. I blamed myself.’: Mom shares son’s autism diagnosis journey
“I always knew my son was different. He fixated on things that seemed odd. The way a hairbrush felt, tags on his clothes, the sound the dog’s collar made when he scratched it a certain way. I didn’t feel like I was doing a good job as his mom.”
‘The first 8 years of being a parent were rough. ‘It’s the after-baby blues. They’ll go away.’ I felt like a failure.’: Mom shares journey with postpartum depression, ‘The NOW is where I’m content’
“I hated watching my husband sleep when I was exhausted. I felt such emptiness. I was told, ’It’ll get better when you get out of the house more.’ I always responded, ‘Yeah, you’re probably right. But I knew it wasn’t the case. I was depressed again.”
‘What’s wrong with you? Why are you walking like that?’ I didn’t want to be in a wheelchair. I stood out too much.’: Woman shares journey as wheelchair model, ‘This beautiful body is mine’
“When I was a teenager, I completely lost my walking ability. It took time for people to realize what was inside me. The wheelchair always stole my role. It was like I was in a dress that didn’t belong to me.”
‘I donated 112 GALLONS. It’s a high I’ve never felt before.’: Mom donates breast milk to micro preemies, ‘Every box I ship brings me joy’
“I was able to help feed that little girl until she turned a year old and it was such an amazing feeling knowing that something my body created was able to nourish and help grow another human being other than my own!”
‘Wouldn’t it be SO cool for her to be born at 11:11 a.m.?’ I kept praying, ‘God let it be.’ I HAD to have hope again.’: Couple adopts biological sisters after infertility, ‘Miracles do happen’
“I am not going to say it became rainbows and butterflies, because it didn’t. There was still this deep, deep ache and question of ‘why,’ and a yearning to become a mama.”
‘She must be dramatic. She isn’t actually sick.’ I must convince doctors I’m not an addict looking for pain meds. I beg to be taken seriously.’: Woman battling Celiac Disease explains ‘this isn’t just a food allergy’
“I was an all-star cheerleader. From the outside, I seemed perfectly healthy. After that first week in the hospital, I was discharged and told this was a ‘fluke thing’ and I needed to go on a ‘low-fat diet.’ Soon, the hair loss, stomach pains, bruises, and infections started. I was 90 pounds and miserable.”
‘A mother has chosen you.’ It didn’t feel real. As painful as it was, I’d do it all over again.’: Couple adopts after ‘gut-wrenching’ disrupted adoption, ‘Everything led us to this moment’
“We finally felt like becoming parents was in our foreseeable future. For 3 days, we lived in her NICU room and slept on the tiny couch together. But her birth mother chose to keep her. Our hearts SHATTERED.”
I Grew Up With Crippling Anxiety, And I Didn’t Know It
“I never made it to my second day of high school. My fear of leaving the house quickly grew within me. I always thought the world revolved around drinking, but then I realized, I made my world revolve around it.”