“The ultrasound tech made a funny face. ‘I’ll be right back.’ Moments later, she entered with another technician. ‘See this?’ she said. ‘This is baby A, and this is baby B.’ TWINS? From a one-night stand? I was 6 months pregnant when I came home from school to my dad wanting to talk. ‘Mom and I think you should give this child away.’ I was angry, heartbroken, and completely beside myself. 13 days later, I found myself in a courtroom.”
‘One line. Please, one line.’ I was 17, peeing on a stick in a McDonald’s bathroom. 3 minutes later, two pink lines showed my fate. Pregnant.’: Single teen mom becomes twin mom, birth mom, adoptive mom, and stepmom, now mom of 8
‘I could not do what you do. I’d get too attached.’ That’s the point. Their need for love and protection is far greater than my need to be protected.’: Foster dad urges ‘if you have the ability, you have the responsibility’
“I grew up in a dysfunctional home of drug addiction and verbal abuse. My parents got a divorce when I was 7 because my father had been having several affairs. When my wife approached me with the desire to foster, I felt unprepared. I’d experienced so much trauma in childhood, I only had examples of what not to do as a father. God had others plans.”
‘Would you be willing to take in a 7-year-old boy during quarantine?’ I knew it was a risk, but I also knew all he needed was love.’: Single adoptibe, foster dad says ‘my house is not a blessing unless it’s shared’
“I’d spent weeks protecting my son and I from this virus. We had no clue where this child had been or who he’d been in contact with. ‘But where will he go if I don’t take him in?’ All the offices were closed. I knew it was dangerous, but I also knew all he needed was someone to love him.”
‘I wiped away tears and quit ignoring the calls from CPS. 30 minutes after I told my 1st grade students goodbye, I had a 4-week-old baby placed in my arms.’: Mom says fostering journey is ‘nothing like I imagined’
“I forgot to send my kid to school with shoes….again. I cry the entire way home. I throw myself a pity party on what my life was supposed to look like. But then I get the little boy who has been handed a very hard life. The teen mom who has nowhere to turn, and the drug addicted mother who lives a life of regret. I will get too attached every single time. And that’s definitely a good thing.”
‘We have our stomachs cut open before us. We spend weeks recovering while still caring for a totally dependent new life, bringing joy to the world.’: Mom says you are ‘powerful, strong, and brave’
“We somehow survive on minimal sleep, and just when we reach the point where we think we can’t give any more, we do. We are teachers, healers, therapists, safe places, comforters, givers, lovers, and friends.”
‘There’s no way I can say goodbye?’ I had 2 options: die or let my daughter die. I picked myself off the bathroom floor and went numb.’: Woman survives nearly-fatal molar pregnancy, loses daughter
“At 15 weeks pregnant, my OB called and left a voicemail. Something was different in her voice. ‘You’re the sickest patient on the whole Labor & Delivery floor.’ Little did I know, that voicemail would spur a chain of events I could never have imagined. ‘It’s rare, aggressive, and will threaten both your lives.’ I walked myself to the bathroom, shut the door, and sobbed on the floor. All of these feelings of guilt started to pour out.”
‘Are you willing to foster a teen?’ I was 19, male. I didn’t think I’d be taken seriously.’: Man who grew up in foster care adopts 3 children, ‘I want them to grow up loved’
“At 19, I moved into my own place and worked like a dog. I felt unfulfilled, but wasn’t sure what I was missing. One day, I picked up an employment newsletter. There it was. ‘Become a Foster Parent Today. Must be 18.’ A month later, I got a call asking to take in a 7-year-old boy. Imagine my surprise to see a white child waiting for me at the supermarket! I was internally panicking. I’d never interacted with a white child before and had no clue how to care for one!”
‘My father sent me out for cigarettes. I decided to run away. I needed to find a place he’d never find me.’: Man rescued from abusive family, returns favor by fostering children in need
“After a year of living on the street, strangers approached me and said, ‘We want to take you to school.’ Coming from an abusive household, I had never really learned to trust. I said yes, not really sure what I was agreeing to. I had no home, hope, future, and they gave me all of that and more. I knew I wanted to do the same for other kids.”
‘Their mom unexpectedly passed. My heart hurt for them, but inside I was glad she wouldn’t fight us for them anymore.’ Family fosters 2 teens who they ‘loved instantly’ despite troubled past
“We were looking into adoption. It was dicey. Their mom was doing JUST enough to make it seem like she was on track to get them home, but barely. And then we got the news. We didn’t think much of the warning signs.”
‘She was severely malnourished. ‘We don’t expect her to live very long in the orphanage.’ I was in it for the long haul.’: Woman adopts orphan into her forever family, ‘She became mine and I became hers’
“I knew the dangers of short-term volunteers going into orphanages and getting attached. ‘She won’t let anyone play with her. She’s very stubborn.’ But I was stubborn too. Our doctor took off his glasses and looked me in the eyes. ‘Have you considered pursuing custody?’ I felt the weight of his words. I was young. Really young.”
