“We don’t have NEARLY enough time on this planet to just waste our lives on what society says is the way to live.”
‘An idea popped into my head which sounded CRAZY.’ ‘You are going to ruin your daughter’s life!’: Single mom builds loving home in van, ‘I want us to truly LIVE’’
‘You don’t measure up to other women.’ He detailed all my flaws. It cost me thousands.’: Divorcee details journey to self-worth, ‘Healing is beautiful’
“It struck me how just an afternoon of hearing about all of my flaws and how those flaws—my flaws—were used in the choice of another person.”
‘Are they siblings? Where are their parents?’ People ask me point-blank in front of the kids.’: Adoptee turned single foster parent vows ‘I’ll protect them fiercely’
“‘How long have you had them?’ They already know they’re not home. We end up in tears as they struggle with the loss. They shouldn’t have to hear these questions.”
‘I’m going to die young.’ I was drunk the day I took my SATs. I’d go days without eating.’: Single mom overcomes addiction, ‘I wanted to see my daughter grow up’
“While my friends were dreaming about their future careers, I was dreaming about booze. I’d carve words into my legs just to feel something. And then I got pregnant. The only thing I wanted for this child is to not feel how I felt.”
‘I think it’s best to move them into a 2-parent home.’ I had failed. They were concerned I wasn’t committed to their care.’: Single mom of 5 shares adoption journey, ‘These girls are my world’
“I got the call. ‘Can you take in your adopted daughter’s biological sister who has just been born?’ I hid in the bathroom and just cried. I sobbed to the CPS worker: ‘I know what my answer needs to be, but it’s going to be so hard!'”
‘Oh my god, I’m pregnant,’ I whispered. The first time it occurred to me I was a mom, he was two weeks old.’: Single mom struggles to connect with baby born during Covid, ‘I wasn’t just me anymore’
“Dispatch was on speakerphone yelling unnecessary instructions. Firemen were wandering through my house. ‘My baby is here.’ He didn’t have a name for several hours. This little human was a stranger to me.”
‘I saw a message from a woman I didn’t know. My husband’s breath caught. I was already pregnant.’: After infidelity, single mom learns to thrive with medically complex son
“I watched as they wheeled his small body out of the room, shattered I hadn’t even been able to touch my baby. Suddenly, I had to provide for myself and my son. Motherhood already looked nothing like I had expected.”
‘I was already a month along. My boyfriend had passed away a week before. I was completely in shock.’: Mom grieves during pregnancy with late boyfriend’s daughter, ‘He is still around in spirit’
“We were two young college kids who had moved for a fresh start. All we had was each other to lean on. I was with the man of my dreams, going to a school I loved, and working a job that made me happy every day. It felt like my whole world ended. How would I be a single, first-time mom?”
‘I was holding my 4th pregnancy test. I know, birth control is a thing. I had to consider another adoption.’: Single mom pursues open adoption twice, ‘I was scared this would define me’
“I felt free. I felt like I was following my inner warrior as she told me how to do the right thing for this child. I had no job, no savings, and was in no place to raise a baby alone. I wanted more for this sweet child.”
‘Kerri, get a grip!’ the doctor said. I could only take Tylenol after surgery. I was sure I was going to die.’: Woman with arthrogryposis muscle disorder says ‘nothing is impossible with a fighter’s soul’
“I looked like a pretzel, but my mom wasn’t able to hold me for hours. Doctors started discussing ‘options.’ They told her I wouldn’t be able to do much. They said I would be better off if my parents decided to sign me over to the state. My mom immediately asked to be transferred.”
