Surprise!
🤩
‘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.”
‘How come I’m this color and you’re brown?’ I’d always respond, ‘This is how God made us.’ 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.”
