“The nurse smiles, ‘Congratulations.’ A sick feeling fills my stomach, and I think of his birth mom. I pray he’ll never have to wonder who she is.”
‘I meet her in a stark waiting room. Her eyes settle on her newborn in the car seat I’m carrying.’: Woman shares relationship with son’s birth mom
‘I won’t raise my hand too high because it might upset somebody.’ I picked apart my every move.’: Woman with anxiety advocates for mental heath
“How could the president of a mental health awareness club struggle with her own mental health? I finally ran out of options.”
‘I stood in my kitchen in stunned silence. My boyfriend mopped up the blood.’: Woman diagnosed with rare autoimmune disease
“My face was the size of a jackfruit. I gasped for breath simply walking down a hall. The inflammation was so extreme the imaging was obscured by a sea of white, caused by bleeding in my skull.”
‘My weight, my sexuality, and my autism don’t define me. I do.’ Self-love advocate urges ‘be unapologetically you’
“It took me a long time to learn to love myself, but I finally know how.”
‘I picked up a pair of clippers, counted to three, and shaved it off. ‘There’s no going back now.’: Woman with hair loss urges ‘your hair doesn’t define you’
“I’d find people to do extensions that weren’t pricey salons. I found myself in people’s homes, mall salons, random back rooms at shops—you name it, I’ve probably been there. It was time to let my hair go.”
‘She’s just shy,’ they said. ‘She’ll grow out of it.’ All my life I felt like a misfit.’: Mom diagnosed with autism after son’s diagnosis
“I began to notice similarities between my son’s struggles and my own. Things that triggered him also triggered me. I had meltdowns just like he has meltdowns. I felt SEEN for the first time.”
‘You’re pushing your gay AGENDA if we let you adopt.’: Gay dad adopts 2 kids, runs for mayor, ‘Love will ALWAYS drown out hate’
“Little did we know, we’d adopt TWO children instead of one. Although I don’t want to be looked at as ‘that gay dad,’ being a gay parent is a brave new world.”
‘When it was my turn to play dress-up, they paused. ‘Oh, Liz, there aren’t any princesses left.’ My confidence was shattered.’: Woman with Goldenhar Syndrome advocates for facial equality
“The blonde girl was Cinderella, the brunette was Belle. ‘Liz, you can be the mother.’ There was no princess that resembled what I looked like, no role for me to play.”
Parenting Older Kids Can Feel Lonely Sometimes
“The little people who once hung all over me. Needing me constantly. Poking chubby little fingers under the door of the bathroom. Calling for me, ‘Momma! Watch this!’ over and over. Well, they’re growing up. And their wants and needs seem bigger than anything I can provide.”
‘I’ll never be pretty enough for people to want to be my friend.’ I had to face my hair loss.’: Woman shares journey with alopecia
“I felt like I had no identity other than being the weird bald girl. Every time I looked in the mirror, I was disappointed with what I saw.”