“Tell me about your mom, I’d love to hear all about her. I will sit right here with you. I understand you are hiding behind that smile. You miss them so much. It’s hard to breathe. Your heart feels like it could actually burst at the seams.”
‘Can we talk?’ I want to give you a big hug. I’m a motherless daughter, too.’: Woman says she’s ‘here for you’ through heavy grief, ‘I will understand your silence’
‘What’s wrong with her? Can it be fixed?!’ I had wide-set eyes, webbed fingers. People can’t help but stare.’: Woman meets child with similar Craniofacial differences, ‘I hit the jackpot and found belonging’
“I’m a closet Web MD researcher. I typed in all the things I was born with and a term popped up. Low and behold, there were kids all around the world that looked like me! I’ve always made up wild exaggerations as to why I was born this way. Now, I need no answer. For the first time in my life, I can say, ‘Me too.'”
‘You know, short hair, glasses, chubby.’ I was literally jarred. I asked my daughter to repeat what she said.’: Mom ‘angry’ after daughter was called ‘chubby’ by classmate, ‘everyone giggled’
“I will never forget the shame and fear in her eyes as she looked up at me and asked, ‘Am I?’ Those kind brown eyes searched my face for the truth. Kind of chubby… Those words reached down into my body, grabbed my heart with a fierce grip and punched me in the stomach.”
‘Your baby’s heart is on the wrong side.’ I cried. ‘PLEASE be with him, I don’t want him to be alone.’: Mom devastated to learn of newborn’s heart defect, wishes she could ‘take his place’
“The sonographer went very quiet and kept putting her body in strange positions. She said the baby was laying awkwardly. We had to sign papers prior to his surgery warning us of the risks… death being one of them. We were so helpless. He was so tiny. It didn’t seem fair. I was so excited to see my little boy and give him a big kiss.”
‘Why would she do this?! She’s such a pretty girl.’: Woman recounts suicide attempt after devastating breakup by swallowing bottle of Tylenol
“I’d been dating this guy. He was respectful to me. The kind of guy any mom would be thrilled to see their daughter dating. Then he broke up with me. I had to make the pain go away. I swallowed the entire bottle. I didn’t count, I just took. I called my mom to tell her what I’d just done. By the time she arrived, I was slowly drifting in and out.”
‘We would take them no matter what.’: Mother of special needs children tries to relinquish Godmother duties from best friend, she refuses, ‘It doesn’t need to be discussed’
“We agreed my best friend would be their godmother. But after they were both diagnosed with autism, I felt the overwhelming urge to free her from that responsibility. Taking on two children is a lot. Taking on two children with special needs even more. She didn’t agree to autism—none of us did. So, I messaged her.”
‘Trans men and non-binary people have periods, too.’: Mom teaches son ‘inclusive’ menstruation lesson to create ‘safe space’ for transgender, non-binary individuals
“The language ‘women have periods’ is not entirely inclusive.”
‘I heard one of them whisper ‘Oh no, look at his chest.’ So, I walked over.’: Mom confronts strangers who were staring at young son’s scars
“Tonight, a group of passerbys saw Finn playing in the sand. At first they saw his back, blonde hair, sun-kissed skin and the sweetest little baby butt. They were all smiles, ‘oos and ahs.’ Then he turned around, and they saw his chest. An immediate look of concern hit their faces. I’m not sure what came over me.”
‘Your son is deaf.’ We were praying it was a huge mistake. They wheeled him out. I lost it.’: Mom shocked by newborn’s severe hearing loss, ‘we had no family history’
“Beckett hadn’t heard for the first 13 months of his life and BAM. He was suddenly hearing. I cried on the way home, if I’m being honest. I received nasty, angry messages. I was ‘playing God’ by wanting to give him the gift of sound. Wanting our son to be able to hear us tell him ‘I love you’ was NOT a selfish thing.”
‘Why are you fat and your parents aren’t?’ It was so hurtful. I didn’t have an answer for her.’: Woman discovers unexplained weight gain due to ‘fat disease’ diagnosis called ‘Lipedema’
“I knew there was something off about my body. During a friend’s wedding, we were getting fitted for dresses. This bridal shop didn’t have mirrors in the dressing rooms, so you can’t see how terrible things look. Well, they didn’t have my size. I was falling out of it. It felt like an episode of ‘Mean Girls.’ My best friend turned to her coworker and said, ‘I wish everyone had a body like you.’ I left and cried in my car.”