“At 3 years old, I was forced to drink raw eggs and smoke half of a cigarette by my mom’s boyfriend. The court system failed me. At 19, I became homeless. I tried to leave my relationship but found myself fighting an uphill battle. By the time I had my second daughter, I knew I needed to find a way out.”
‘If you tell anyone about this, you won’t live.’ I was determined to break the generational curses and trauma. Survival mode kicked in.’: Abuse survivor shares journey to healing and self-love
‘I feared I wouldn’t make enough for her, so I built a MASSIVE stash. Just because it’s a natural thing doesn’t mean it comes naturally to every mom.’: Woman donates breast milk, ‘I’m SO grateful to help’
“I never knew where breastfeeding would lead me. I never had an end goal in mind. To be honest with you, I didn’t know any of this was possible.”
‘She said, ‘I am a girl in my heart and brain.’ She had to be physically restrained for haircuts. I felt guilty.’: Mom advocates for transgender daughter, ‘She blossomed before our eyes’
“‘YOU made her this way!’ Dempsey had a strong interest in princesses and sparkly trinkets. She’d put fashion pajama pants on her head to simulate long hair.”
‘Well, my daughter got constipated. For three days. And let me tell you, I did as much as Google could provide me to stimulate her bowels.’: New mom says the ‘excitement was SILLY’ when daughter finally poops
“We started to get anxious. I was ready for my own bed, I was worried about my cat, and I just in general do not enjoy the hospital. Tension was high and we finally made a choice to go to the store for formula.”
‘They told me, ‘It’s nothing to worry about. Every baby does this.’ She was turning BLUE. I knew this wasn’t normal.’: New mom births baby with congenital heart defect, ‘She makes me proud every day’
“I broke down crying, ‘Promise me she’s going to be okay.’ I didn’t think I’d be coming home with my daughter. I couldn’t understand how my 2-year-old was on life support. How I could breathe and she couldn’t?”
‘Our journey to become parents was heartbreaking. I seemed to find every pregnant woman on the planet. I had to save my sanity.’: Mom shares healing through meditation, ‘Find what brings you JOY’
“I threw myself into working, scouring the internet for infertility stories, scrolling Instagram mindlessly. I knew I needed help to bring myself out of the fog. But what I actually learned was to let go.”
‘Dear Snowflake, I hope you can come this year. I haven’t seen you in two years. Love, Quinn.’ I BROKE. This was HIS thing—he had a childlike enthusiasm for Christmas. How can I do it without him?’: Widowed mom shares hope for ‘a little Christmas magic’
“I swear I packed Snowflake and all of her accessories Matt bought over the years to make her laugh. When I unpacked, she was nowhere to be found. I thought maybe she would forget. She did not.”
‘I’m just going to the doctor.’ Dad never came back. I became the main caretaker at 9.’: Abandoned daughter makes it through foster care, ‘You have to turn pain into purpose’’
“I tried to sleep in the same room as my brother, but the foster parents wouldn’t allow it. Imagine being stuck in a snowstorm, clothes stripped, your soul feeling empty and cold.”
‘We want YOU as our parents!’ It was the last time we heard from them for 14 months. We fell in love with all 5.’: Family adopts internationally, ‘Our forever is almost in sight’
“My husband said, ‘They want you.’ When I rounded the corner, they all started yelling, ‘Mama!!! Mama, come here!’ They made a conscious CHOICE to call me ‘mama.’ I will always cherish this.”
‘Why didn’t you abort her?’ I wanted to put her back in my tummy, where’d she be safe. She had IMMEDIATE surgery.’: Mom loses daughter to heart defect, ‘She shaped our lives’
“They told me, ‘Take her home and let her heart give out.’ I kept going because SHE kept going. It was moment by moment.”
