“My friend didn’t understand the big deal. She ‘doesn’t see color.’ She thinks it doesn’t matter what race or ethnicity characters are, because we are all ‘the same.’ Can I be honest? You. Are. Wrong.”
‘I told a friend how excited I am for my daughter to see The Little Mermaid movie. I was so proud my daughter would see herself in Ariel, a beautiful Black princess.’
‘We thought we had reached an agreement. My daughter would live with her dad. But I had no idea how hard they would make it. It was insane.’
“I felt strongly prompted to let her live with her dad. At first I ignored it. That was the worst thing I could ever imagine, and I would NEVER let it happen. Now she’s gone.”
‘I received a message that stopped me in my tracks and brought me to tears. Big, waterfall, sobbing tears. Scarlett would never want this for me. She was love and joy personified.’
“Hello, we were gifted a gift card in memory of Scarlett. I came across your family’s story. The date matches what the man mentioned. I was very stressed, adding numbers in my head trying to get my daughter what she needed for school when this happened. I sat in my car afterwards and cried.”
‘Get in the car,’ my mom forcefully tells me. My mind is racing. Turning me into jail? Where are we going? The drive feels like an eternity.’ She parks. ‘Do you see this place?,’ she chokes out.’
“I had an urge. I was terrified. I went to the only place I knew I was safe. She was asleep. I stood by her crib and stared at the greatest gift I had ever been given, my beautiful baby girl. As I looked at her, tears flooded out of me. That night, she saved my life.”
‘Girl, I bet you’ll get pregnant right after you adopt. Just watch!’ It’s nails on a chalkboard when I hear that.’
“We didn’t adopt in order to become pregnant. I never want my sweet girl to think she was SECOND best. You are the absolute BEST thing that ever happened to me.”
‘My daughter, who is always listening, said, ‘I bet she will say, ‘OH, NO! It’s fine!’ But deep down, she will be angry at you.’ That is what my 9-year-old daughter has already learned. From me.’
“I lie awake after parties and wonder if my joke was taken the wrong way. Whose feelings did I hurt? I apologized to my daughter for my actions that lead her to think women had to hide. That pleasing people should be a top priority. The truth is enough.”
‘My daughter’s friend ran down the stairs. ‘What do you mean something is wrong with her?’ He said, ‘She just leaned over and exhaled really loudly.’
“I ran up the stairs. I saw her slumped onto her side on the couch. I sat next to her, tapping her cheek, and calling out her name. ‘Anais, wake up. ANAIS, wake up!!!’ She gasped, and her eyes rolled back. I questioned her friend about their activities at the mall before this happened. ‘I promise I will not be angry, I just need you to be honest!’”
‘When She Was Born My Son.’
“‘You are a boy, hunny,’ I would say to him gently. By the age of 4, he was flat out denying this could be true.”
‘She has a clear plan to commit suicide, and we need to watch her closely. We have no choice but to admit your 12-year-old daughter.’
“I could have heard a pin drop. All was silent. I was frozen. I held back my tears and replied with all I could muster, ‘I understand.’”
‘I had failed at having that family’: Single mother by choice recounts her IVF journey to get her ‘miracle’ daughter on her own
“I spent years contemplating having a child on my own, always holding on to the hope that I would find a husband and have kids. At 33, I gave up that hope. I decided it was time to do it on my own.”
