“Walking in the courtroom, there were 12 other families waiting with the same excitement. Some with matching shirts, letterboards, signs, all to commemorate their special day. The judge, dressed as Woody from Toy Story, walks in to officially kick off the festivities. ‘You understand this is a permanent proceeding. He would be yours as if he were born to you?,’ he asked. I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.”
‘No Jessica, YOU are his mom. I only carried him.’ I became a mom in a courtroom.’: Woman ‘forever grateful’ for bio mom who made her a mother, ‘My son didn’t to my heartbeat from inside my womb, but he’s laid on my chest every day since 3 days old’
‘THOSE. ARE. MY. BROTHERS!,’ she pointed across the courtroom, yelling proudly. The boys stood to their feet, the proudest I’ve ever seen them.’: 3 adopted brothers ecstatic to attend biological sister’s adoption day after ‘tragic’ childhood
“My eyes immediately filled with tears, and I knew. I knew she remembered. She remembered all the days my boys cared for her when they should have been in their classrooms. She remembered the way they protected her. She remembered the way they loved her. She remembered the way they fought to keep them alive. She remembered.”
‘I heard two words: ‘fugitive felon.’ I caught my son’s eye. His shackles made my stomach flutter uncontrollably. His public defender smoothed her beige suit, and approached him.’
“The severely criminal charge was, in fact, a reference to my 24-year-old. I never imagined that term would apply to him. An unexpected call helped me through his transfer to prison. It had been weeks without contact when I answered the unfamiliar number. I fought back tears. He told me how much my son loved me.”
‘A couple sat in the courtroom, anxious if there was any update to the case of a baby they loved dearly. This crying woman wasn’t just a stranger, she was my soon-to-be-daughter’s foster mother.’
“This baby they loved so much, they’d met in a high school gym. People are often surprised when I talk about my girl’s foster parents, especially that they’re still involved in our lives. I honestly don’t see HOW it could be any other way.”
‘The morning of her adoption, as the sun crept into our room, I watched her sleep. I studied the curve of her lips, the fullness of her perfect cheeks. This is the moment everything changes.’
“The judge pulled me aside to thank me, one less little person in the system. There is a refreshing light-hearted joy in the courthouse. A day where balloons bounce and smiles are had. For a moment, the cycle of dysfunction is broken.”
‘My mom drank. A lot. We were placed in separate foster homes. It was difficult to prove a mother unfit. She showed up to court intoxicated. The judge granted Dad custody.’
“Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. It’s unbearable to think about. It has always been the 3 of us that make sure the other is okay.”
‘I have a good friend who was with her husband from age 18. She found out that, over a year ago, he cheated on her.’
“As soon as I walked in I was asked, ‘Why are you friends with Sarah? She’s gone wild now, she’s got all these tattoos, she dumps her kids so she can go out partying. I heard she’s got another boyfriend already! Those poor kids!’ Because she’s moved on, she was called a sl*t.”
‘He’s such a calm boy. I promise he’s well behaved when he’s with me.’
“I know they stare. I know they talk. I know they judge the pale, sweaty woman wrestling her hysterical child away, hiding tears behind her over-sized sunglasses.”
‘Up until this moment I refused to call them ‘mine.’ I referred to them as ‘ours.’ The social workers’, the state of California, the taxpayers. That day, they became MINE.’
“There was no logical reason, in our minds, to start a family. But, as soon as those girls locked eyes on mine I knew… I would kill or die for them.”
‘Don’t judge me. If I complain about my children, don’t say I don’t love them.’
“If I’m honest about motherhood, don’t say I’m ranting. You didn’t see how many years I couldn’t tell anyone how I felt because I was afraid.”
