“It was my daughter’s 19th birthday. She wasn’t feeling well, but still wanted to go out to dinner. When we got home, my baby was sick to her stomach. She was completely out of it. Something wasn’t right. I hug her saying, ‘It’s okay, the ambulance is coming.’ Then, all of the sudden, she looks at me, takes a deep breathe, and closes her eyes. I held her as she took her last breath. I didn’t want to let go. I prayed God would take me instead.”
‘I screamed, ‘I love you! Please don’t leave me!’ She’d changed her tampon. She started seizing and stopped breathing right in front of me.’: Mom loses daughter to Toxic Shock Syndrome, ‘My beautiful girl was a fighter’
‘Mommy, what is this?’ ‘That’s a condom.’ My kids know about masturbation. They know sex isn’t for children, but can be pleasurable for adults.’: Mom raises kids in ‘sex-positive family’
“‘How are babies made?’ ‘An adult male will put his penis inside an adult female’s vagina and they have sex.’ I was horrified to find out many grown women didn’t know the names for their own anatomy! As ADULTS, they’d never learned. My children are 5, 7, and 8. They know all about consent, menstruation, sex, pedophiles and puberty. I’d rather they learn from me than the playground or internet.”
‘Am I still a virgin?’ A 13-year-old girl sits on my examination table. ‘Yes.’ She cries tears of relief.’: Child abuse pediatrician pens PSA on virginity, ‘women need to know the truth about their bodies’
“Her uncle started raping her when she was 7 years old. I tell her she’s going to be okay. I tell her WHY she’s still a virgin. ‘Rape is not the same thing as sex. Having sex WITH someone can only happen with consent. Otherwise, it’s just violence, period.’ She dries her tears, and smiles for a new beginning.”
‘Dad, it’s weird, but I think I pooped my pants!’ Minutes later, it hits me. OMG. ‘That’s not poop!!!’: Dad transforms into ‘the period fairy’ after realizing daughter is experiencing first menstrual cycle
“Today, I got THE CALL. So, I rush to school, bring her a change of undies, and rush back to my conference call. Hours later, she calls. ‘Dad, it happened again.’ At this point, I’m confused. Annoyed. ‘Just wipe your butt!’ Then, it hits me. I rush to the trash, inspect the undies from earlier, and scream. My child called for help and I just left her to die on the battlefield!”
‘Trans men have periods, too.’ If my 4-year-old son can grasp this, so can you.’: Mom teaches son ‘inclusive’ menstruation lesson to create ‘safe space’ for transgender, non-binary individuals
“My son Eli was informed about periods when he saw blood on my pants. I didn’t use the language ‘women have periods’ because it’s not entirely inclusive. It’s not insulting to women, it’s not discrediting women. Removing a female logo off sanitary products helps include us all. It was easy for him to accept it.”
‘You know if you’d stop eating all those donuts and Frappuccino’s, you’d stop gaining weight.’: Woman fat-shamed by doctors until learning of PCOS diagnosis, ‘find a health care provider who listens, instead of shaming you into thinking there is no hope’
“I was gaining weight pretty quickly, 20 pounds in a year. I finally go back to the doctor, the one who didn’t listen. The one who was losing my trust. She was not happy to hear I had stopped using the Nuva Ring and again tried to get me to start using it. She also went on to fat shame me. After reading my new weight and asking, ‘What’s going on?,’ she shared with me her solution… No joke, this was from my doctor. It was cruel.”
‘I finally got a pregnancy test. Told no one. Waited a few more days. Negative.’: Triplet mom left feeling ‘confused, excited, terrified’ after thinking her body was ‘actually working’ by missing period
“I told my husband over dinner while our kids were also trying to talk. Poor timing, but I hadn’t told anyone and just needed to get it off my chest. I took him by surprise. ‘I thought I was pregnant, but I’m not.’ My eyes were filling with tears. I hated how emotional I was getting. He was shocked. Relieved. Not as sad as I was.”
‘My teenage boys helped me shop for their little sister’s first bras today…because breasts happen, y’all.’: Mom challenges ‘stigma’ of female puberty, ‘my boys know picking out a bra is no big deal’
“Lucy came downstairs one night to ask if her ‘nipples should be sore.’ I instantly realized puberty was around the corner. She told her dad, who was sitting RIGHT NEXT TO ME, that she needed bras. I, the one with breasts, was right there! Fast forward to Target. I explained to my boys Lucy needed some plain bras. They were shocked. ‘What are bras for? She doesn’t look different. Why does she need them? Is she starting puberty?’ By taking them, the stigma was already GONE.”
‘My teenage boys carry a tampon and pad in their backpacks because gender taboo!’: Boy mom raising teen sons to ‘see past’ menstruation taboo, respond with ‘kindness, understanding’
“As I was driving one day, I looked at my boys in the rearview mirror and nonchalantly told them they should carry a tampon in case one of their friends had an emergency. ‘Bleed-throughs happen,’ I explained. ‘Kindness and understanding from ANY friend goes a long way. Be that person.'”
‘I was vomiting. My doctor said it was because I was ‘promiscuous.’ My mom had just hung herself.’: Woman with chronic illness claims pain won’t rob her ‘passion for living’
“The pain got so bad. I pulled over on the side of the freeway and called my dad, begging him to come get me. I became confused, disoriented. I remember thinking I could understand why my mother took her own life. It made me realize I either had to fight for my own health, or continue to fade away. I had to be stronger than my mom was. I couldn’t stop fighting.”
