“‘It’s a girl! I don’t know where she is!’ I sent her a backpack full of food, toiletries, notes from our daughter, prenatal vitamins and clothes, yet she wouldn’t accept it.”

‘Don’t BUG me, I’m having the baby and it ends up where it ends up.’ Mom refused medical care. It was a waiting game.’: Parents foster-to-adopt siblings, ‘We can’t wait to see who comes next’

‘Your parents don’t love you.’ I was told my father was a one-night stand no one knew. I lived my life believing I’d never find him.’: Young woman in foster care reunites with long-lost biological dad
“I found a mysterious name on my birth certificate. ‘Is this REAL? Like, am I actually doing this?’ I nervously sent him a message. My whole life was a lie.”

‘Don’t get too attached. I’m going to get her back.’ I was naive. As I sat with her, the tears began to flow.’: Mom of 5 loves foster daughter ‘in all the ways I love my own’
“I had a dream I was holding a new baby like she was my own, but I didn’t give birth to her. I woke up and saw a picture of a newborn on Facebook. I knew it was her.”

‘Can you tell me how we’re related?’ Then she said, ‘I am your mom.’ My heart was beating so fast it almost popped out of my chest.’: Woman reunites with biological mom, ‘I’m excited to build a relationship with this sweet, intelligent woman’
“We embraced each other. ‘I look like you,’ I said with watery eyes. In 1996, pregnant in her early 20s with already two kids, she wrapped me in a towel and called the police to tell them where I was. ‘I forgive you.’ I tried my hardest to keep my tears in. I knew if I let one fall, the rest would not stop.”

‘The last time you saw me, you left me on the side of a bridge. Did you cry?’: Adoptee pens powerful letter to birth mom, ‘Thank you for giving me a better life’
“I often wonder what that day in February was like, the last day you saw me. Did you leave in the dead of night so you wouldn’t be caught? Did you wait until a stranger found me, or did you rush to leave, eager to forget? Because of you, I begged my parents to quit Chinese dance. Because of you, I laughed at Chinese jokes to show I wasn’t one of THEM. I was an outcast in the only world I knew and exiled from the world where I belonged.”

‘300 plus families passed on a baby boy.’ What would happen to my son? ‘Are you interested in special needs adoption?’: Moms discuss open adoption journeys, ‘We really are a family’
“MOM is in there nursing the baby.’ What? I WAS the mom! I just wanted to know how my son was. I was so angry at her ex-husband for leaving. My trust had been rocked. When Noah’s first birthday was coming up, we decided to meet.”

‘She is my BABY! You can’t take her!’ I felt like I was being choked. We knew we had to do something.’: Mom writes emotional letter to foster baby, ‘I won’t ever forget you’
“’Is your family open to adoption?’ My heart felt so FULL! For that time, you were ‘OURS.’ Then, one day it all came crashing down. It was like a nightmare. ‘By the way, I’m going to come and pick the baby up tomorrow.’”

‘When I walked into that hospital room and lay eyes on these perfect little strangers, I knew in my bones they belonged to me.’: Adoptive mom says ‘it’s the choice to parent that makes you one’
“Within seconds of feeling the weight of my babies against my chest for the first time, my heart was made to love them. It was an unexplainable love at first sight I thought was only reserved for mothers who gave birth to their children. And now, a decade later, science is proving what I’ve always known in my heart.”

‘Out of left field, the man asked, ‘Ma’am, will she ever be normal?’ Fighting back tears, my 5-year-old climbed on A.J.’s wheelchair and look him straight in the eye.’: Woman adopts child with cerebral palsy, ‘Life has never felt more complete’
“I got the phone call that would change our lives forever. ‘Her mother was found deceased this morning.’ We asked, ‘How would y’all feel if A.J. stayed with us forever?’ The two girls’ bond is like I have never seen. She doesn’t see A.J as ‘different,’ she just sees her baby sister. I don’t think any of us could imagine life without her.”

‘I wasn’t trying to ‘play mommy.’ I was jealous when they started dating. Now my daughter’s stepmom is my best friend.’: Husband’s wife and ex-wife become best friends, successfully co-parent as ‘one big happy family’
“Before we had even met, we started off on the wrong foot. It began when Nick (my ex) and Savannah (his new girlfriend) were dating and took my baby to Disneyland. Savannah took a picture and posted it online. I was angry. It felt like someone was being the ‘replacement’ as Liv’s mom.”