“We took my daughter for a routine hearing test. I impatiently asked my husband, ‘What’s taking them so long to start the test?’ His eyes widened. ‘Vanessa, are you kidding me? We’re half way through!’ I couldn’t hear a thing.”
‘The teacher called home. ‘Vanessa is not paying attention in class.’ I failed every hearing test. ‘What are you saying?!’ I started to think I just wasn’t smart.’: Woman with severe hearing loss receives eye-opening diagnosis after 33 years
‘I don’t think my heart can handle this.’ There was a newborn who needed a home. ‘If not me, then who?’: Family opens ‘hearts and home’ to foster care during pandemic
“As long as it means a child is safe and loved, I’m willing for my heart to be broken, over and over again.”
An Open Letter To The People Who Don’t Believe Meghan
“She may not see your comments, but your loved ones will.”
‘It’s not her, it’s him. She isn’t leaving.’ I sat there, wide-eyed, waiting for them to explain. I thought I was hurting my baby.’: Preemie warrior graduates NICU after emotional 67-day stay
“I told my husband I was heading to the hospital for fluids. ‘Same story, different day?’ The nurse turned the monitors away from me. That’s when everything changed.”
‘We should have the freedom to say, ‘The thought of reading with my kids makes me want to gouge my eyes out.’ Just be HONEST about it.’: Mom urges honest motherhood, ‘It doesn’t mean we don’t love them’
“I just want you to know you can say, ‘My kids were jerks today.'”
‘My brother is homeless and struggling with addiction. Every single day I cry for him, knowing the pain he goes through. I search for him ALL the time.’: Mother details sober journey after being prescribed pain pills
“I was fighting an addiction placed upon me by my doctor. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I go out there all the time to search for him.”
‘I came home at nineteen, married and pregnant. ‘You’re too young, you’ll regret this.’ ALL eyes were on me, waiting for a mistake.’: Pastor’s daughter details journey to discovering self-worth
“I drove out in the middle of nowhere. My plan was to hit a tree at a high rate of speed. And then my daughter called me.”
‘My world FROZE. ‘I’ll never get to do the things I want with her.’ Am I even cut out for this?’: New mom births ‘perfect’ baby girl with Down syndrome, ‘She is our angel’
“‘She looks like she has Down syndrome.’ I quickly brushed it off and told him he was overreacting. Then the pediatrician came in.”
‘What’s something you REALLY need?’ I heard horror stories. I wanted to help them build a BETTER life.’: Man starts nonprofit to help homeless, ‘Our goal is HOPE’
“Daniel put his head in his hands and began to cry. ‘Someone stole ALL of my belongings.’ He didn’t even have a shirt. A light bulb lit up in my head.”
‘Are you constantly aware of your heartbeat?’ I was confused. Couldn’t everyone feel their heartbeat all the time?.’: Woman overcomes two open-heart surgeries
“I vividly remember putting my signature on a piece of paper that said, ‘Side effects: stroke and death.’ I turned to my family and said, ‘I’ve just signed my life away.'”
‘As I was getting ready to terminate my foster license, I got the call: ‘Do you remember Hector?’ My eyes widened. 3 days later he walked into my life, forever.’: Single dad adopts son with autism after emotional journey
“‘This is it! We’re going to be a forever family!’ Hector ran towards me and jumped in my arms. He hugged me and squeezed me tight as he said, ‘I love you so much, I love you so, so much.’ There he was, the one I had cried, prayed, and hoped for.”
‘You’re newly pregnant and this little girl is a lot of work. If you need us to find her a new home, it’s okay.’ I didn’t want an ‘easier’ kid. I wanted her.’: Foster mom shares special needs adoption
“The social worker said, ‘This is the largest file I have.’ So much was going on. There was an intense amount of outer, anger, and lies. It broke me she was legally an orphan.”
‘I recorded a video for my daughter in case I didn’t make it. ‘Mommy loves you more than life itself.’ It was suffocating.’: Mom undergoes second open-heart surgery, ‘Every day, I wake up grateful’
“I walked to my car, sobbing. This wasn’t the news I had expected. Suddenly, every scenario of my daughter growing up without a mom went flashing through my mind.”
‘My stepdaughter took a shirt from my hands. ‘This is how my mom does it.’ It felt like a harsh slap back to reality.’: Stepmom shares journey blending families, ‘I love them all equally’
“I didn’t know who I was to them. ‘One day, I’ll have my own.’ I built up so many expectations of this little baby. I’d never feel like I didn’t belong in my family again.”
‘They die early. They don’t even live long.’ Why couldn’t my peers treat PEOPLE like PEOPLE? I decided to help.’: Woman advocates for those with Down syndrome, ‘I want their voices to be heard’
“‘You have a lot of nerve and patience to spend all your time with them.’ I’m LUCKY to be surrounded by all of this love.”
‘I’m afraid your dad isn’t going to make it.’ I had to come up with $45,000, in the middle of a pandemic.’: Daughter dresses as Disney princesses to give dying father second chance at life
“Every girl thinks their dad is the best one in the world. I’m not exaggerating when I say, I won the father lottery. Now, it was my time to give back. ‘I’m going to save him!’ This was bigger than my pride, bigger than anything in the world.”
‘I’ve lived a selfish life. I want to do something meaningful.’ It became my passion to help someone else create their family.’: Woman shares surrogacy journey
“I struggled with bleeding. ‘Do you want to continue?’ I hadn’t expected this, but it wasn’t going to deter me. I was ready to try again.”
‘I’m the worst mom ever.’ I didn’t know I was allowed to talk about NOT feeling okay.’: Mom opens up about postpartum depression, ‘You’re worthy of a beautiful life’
“The perfect mom we see on social media or on TV is NOT real. No mom has it together 100% of the time.”
‘4 months into our marriage, we were in total isolation. I realized I knew very little.’: Special needs stepmom shares journey during lockdown, ‘I will forever cherish our bond’
“What we thought would be a two-week stay turned into months. I cried lots of tears. I was new to parenting, new to special needs. This. Was. Hard.”
‘The pregnancy test read positive. I was in shock. ‘Do we still call the adoption agency?’: Mom shares ‘messy and beautiful’ journey through infertility and adoption
“Within hours, we received a case about an expecting mom. ‘She picked you!’ I cried the same tears of joy as when I found out we were pregnant.”
The Secret Life Of The Infertile Woman: ‘Will This Be The Month?’
“It’s the club no one wants to join.”
‘How come I’m this color and you’re brown?’ Black or white, it didn’t matter. I was her mama.’: Selfless woman adopts 4 children from foster care
“The adoption paperwork sat on my table. ‘Are we doing this?’ There was no question, the answer was YES! One year later, I got a call from a strange number. ‘A baby was born yesterday. It’s their biological sibling. Can you pick her up from the hospital tomorrow?’ My mouth flew open. Just when I thought my journey was done, it was only the beginning.”
‘People ask, ‘Who’s the mom?’ Just like them, we’d do ANYTHING for our babies.’: LGBTQ dads urge for acceptance
“We’re the family who sit around the dinner table and talk about our day. We’re the neighbors who bake you cookies or pies. Our place in this world is EARNED, not owed.”
‘My ‘prince’ became a nightmare. ‘You’re too MANLY, lose weight.’ Then there were the other women.’: Woman breaks free of abusive relationship, finds ‘absolute DREAM’ husband
“The divorce left me with barely any dignity. Then I met Jim. We both knew what it was like to live with nothing, to sleep on couches, to have next to nothing to our names.”
‘I have good news and bad news.’ I was 29, the healthiest I’d ever been. How could this happen to me?’: Breast cancer warrior celebrates 5 years cancer-free, ‘I refuse to let it steal my joy’
“I was newly engaged, planning the beautiful merger of our lives and families. The sky was the limit! Then I felt something alarming at the top of my breast, something that didn’t belong.”