“The night before, we had snow. We never have snow that early. It felt like a reminder all things are possible. ‘We have a match!’ Everything was falling into place.”
‘Enough. Let’s take a break.’ Having kids wasn’t just a silly dream. I KNEW this was it.’: Woman details infertility and embryo adoption journey, ‘She’s a gift’
‘We hid under the guise of ‘best friends.’ Suspicious, my roommates logged onto my Facebook. They exposed our romantic messages to mutual friends and strangers.’: LGBTQ+ woman details brave ‘coming out’ journey
“That night, while on our big red couch in our cozy den, my mom turned to me and asked, ‘Kaila, are you gay?’ I spilled my heart out. She didn’t interrupt. She didn’t insert her feelings or her worries. She simply listened, and assured me how much she loves me.”
‘Mom, you can’t see my letter!’ This sparked my curiosity. What in the world would he ask Santa to bring me?: Mom reads son’s heartwarming letter to Santa, ‘They’re depending on us’
“My house seemed unusually quiet. If you are a parent, you know this can be a dangerous sign. ‘Mom, leave!’ They covered their paper. Now I was really curious!”
‘My legs froze. I collapsed. ‘It could be worse.’ Embarrassed, I was carried away in front of an entire field of people.’: Fibromyalgia warrior raises awareness for invisible illness
“I was handed a sheet with a human diagram instructing me to ‘shade the painful areas.’ I shaded the whole body.”
‘It’s SO. MANY. PEOPLE. FIGHTING. Everyone is judging, berating, and one-upping each other. It’s TOO much.’: Woman urges ‘let the negative out and the positive in’
“It’s the over-sharers vs. the internalizers. It’s men vs. women. It’s those who believe anxiety and depression need pills vs. the ones who think those guys and gals should just ‘be happy.'”
‘I no longer wipe tiny butts or blow on soup. There’s no one to nurse to sleep at bedtime. I used to wish for these days, but now my heart aches.’: Mom urges ‘they’ll always need you mama, just in different ways’
“They’ll always need you, Mama. Always. Just in different ways.”
‘Any chance you’re interested in adopting a redhead?’ We went from 0 to 3 kids. Two weeks later, we were pregnant.’: Couple battling infertility become parents to 10 after miracle pregnancies, adoption
“After nine years of infertility and repeated miscarriages, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be a mom to 10 children. God certainly has a sense of humor.”
‘A 27-year-old woman asking to have a hysterectomy is extremely troubling. My choice has been difficult to understand.’: Woman fights addiction, endometriosis, ‘This is not a decision I’ve made lightly’
“I did not want to carry, create, or be responsible for another life. What will your partner do if he decides he wants children?’ Some called it extreme, I personally felt it was me being responsible.”
‘Her heart’s on the wrong side.’ She held the tip of my finger. We thought we beat the odds.’: NICU survivor diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, ‘One day she WILL walk’
“We were having a baby 6 weeks early. ‘I need to hear her cry!’ I entered the world of the unknown.”
‘You need to bring her back to the hospital.’ I couldn’t help but sob. We didn’t realize how sick she was.’: Mom says baby with rare 2q37 Deletion Syndrome is ‘a little world-changer’
“I’ll never forget being told to catheterize our 5-day-old baby. I didn’t even know that was possible. When they strapped her little arm, I nearly fainted.”