“I get the ‘ohhhhhhh’ look. Like my marriage is one step away from separate houses and eventually separate lives. ‘But what about cuddling? What about SEX?’ they ask. I feel like this is something I needed to get off my chest.”
‘My husband and I sleep in separate rooms. For 11 years, he’s been downstairs while I’m all the way up in my private mom-cave.’: Woman urges ‘every couple is different, do your thang!’
‘She was exposed to drugs. No one is willing to take the risk.’ They had no idea when she’d last been fed.’: Mom of 6 adopts foster daughter, ‘We love her completely’
“A couple of months into our surprise pregnancy, we found out there were in fact TWINS in there! We already had 4 littles in diapers.”
‘My daughter had a weirdly, rapidly progressing sunburn. We couldn’t figure out why, until we realized it wasn’t a sunburn.’: Mom shares PSA on harmful sunscreens
“I was so embarrassed I let this happen to my baby. This photo was taken 4 days after.”
‘She missed school events, birthdays. I longed for a mom I didn’t have to constantly worry about dying every day.’: Woman shares ‘heart-wrenching’ reality of growing up with an addict parent
“I was afraid to have friends over at my house because I didn’t know if she would be sober or not. When she was out, I lived in constant fear of her getting hurt, dying, or going back to jail. She was tired of fighting. I wanted to fight for her.”
‘My mom doesn’t know who I am anymore, but she knows me in a way no one else does. I am her safe space.’: Daughter to mom with Alzheimer’s says ‘our bond is unbreakable’
“If I had one wish, one thing for my mom to have back, it wouldn’t be for her to remember who I am. That would be the last thing I’d wish for.”
‘Can we take him home with us?’ My little patient had fought more in 6 months than most adults. He was in custody of the state.’: Nurse adopts special needs patient, ‘He is our little boy forever and ever!’
“He was born 4 months premature and needed a ventilator to breathe. Nurses aren’t supposed to pick ‘favorites,’ but I couldn’t help but get lost in his infectious little grin. The state prepared him for foster care. On the day of the court case, my work phone rang. ‘Congratulations, it’s a boy!’ A shock of adrenaline hit me.”
‘It was a wet, rainy spring. He saw tire tracks and the busted wire fence, jumped from the vehicle, and took off running.’: After losing family in tragic car accident, man remarries and adopts foster siblings
“I had to tell him. I knew he had loved being a father and hoped to one day be a father again. With tears in my eyes, I told him the truth about me. I was afraid it could be a deal breaker for him.”
‘Are they twins?’ I’d shoot back, ‘Yep, and they’re 3 days apart.’ We’re the family that looks like a clown car.’: Family falls in love with foster son, ‘We learned the meaning of true love’
“By the age of 4, he witnessed his mom beaten within an inch of her life. He didn’t have someone gently tuck him into bed at night. I almost didn’t hit send. I was afraid our comfortable life would change.”
‘You have a daughter!’ We were blindsided. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind she’d be with us.’: Couple describes grief of disrupted adoption, ‘I never stopped loving her’
“The grandparents didn’t want to take care of her and pushed for adoption. There was no way she wasn’t going to be placed with us. I never stopped loving her.”
‘She said, ‘I received the call this morning. My mom has terminal cancer. It’s only a matter of minutes before she passes.’ Her car was broken down on the side of the road.’: Man drives 400 miles to unite stranger with dying mother
“It was a 400-mile trip and they were complete strangers. I turned around and said, ‘I’ll take you.’ They both looked at me in disbelief.”