“No matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t see my child’s future. I was going to have to live it, right next to him. NOBODY is going to come and take this away from us.”
‘Something felt off. With my gown tied in the back and birthing underpants peeking through, I shuffled in search of my baby.’: Mom shares journey of having 2 partially deaf children, ‘They are so much more than I imagined’
‘I failed the hearing test. Not once, not twice, but FOUR different times.’: Deaf woman becomes audiologist at childhood clinic
“Imagine living in a world where you did not hear the hustle and bustle of this noisy world we live in. The voices of your mother or father during the first several years of your life. To not be able to hear your family say ‘I love you’ or hear their voices singing sweet lullabies.”
‘I thought it was stress. When I began crying and shaking without triggers, I realized it was much more.’: Woman opens up about journey to bipolar disorder diagnosis, self-care
“My mom and doctors thought I was just another moody teenager. For a long time, I assumed what I was feeling was normal.”
‘I wanted him so bad a friend gave me the seed I needed to plant him in my belly.’: Single mom by choice shares reminder ‘families come in all shapes and sizes’
“I’m not going to lie, at first I was freaked out. Thoughts of ‘what the heck did I just do’ flooded my brain. But the moment I went to the doctor and saw that little blob on the ultrasound, I was in.”
‘They put Mia on my stomach. We saw her hand and foot were different before they took her away. It was the longest hour in my life.’: Mom to daughter with congenital limb difference vows ‘I wouldn’t have her any other way’
“Operations and prosthetics included, our daughter has been a dream since birth.”
‘He jumped out and screamed boo during hide and seek. She never turned around; she was still wondering where he went.’: Mom details her and daughter’s journey being hard of hearing
“She started to sign to me. ‘I don’t use sign language, I can hear and talk.’ I had unintentionally made a judgment about Deaf/HoH people, not realizing I’d judged myself in the process.”
‘The doctor secretly put in my chart, ‘Borderline personalities due to dislike of multiple providers.’ I was down to 107 pounds, in constant pain. No one was willing to listen.’: Nurse, chronic illness warrior shares emotional journey to diagnosis
“I was ignored by providers during my cries for help. Friends stopped asking me to hang out. My long-term partner was emotionally unavailable. I had to learn to pursue the life I deserved despite the labels.”
6 Things You NEED To Know Before Adopting
“Despite being deemed competent and fit by my state of residence to adopt, I was ill-prepared for all that comes with bringing a child from another family into my home.”
‘Your mom left you with me to babysit and never returned.’ He was a young Marine, just back from the Vietnan war. He made the ultimate sacrifice.’: Adoptee shares journey to self-acceptance, motherhood
“‘Initially I found a babysitter for you, but I realized you needed stability, so I brought you home – and filed for adoption,’ he said. He was my first love, my first teacher, my first protector. He encouraged me to believe in myself.”
‘I hid behind my mom the 1st day of kindergarten, afraid to walk into a room of kids who did not yet know I was different.’: Woman with alopecia shares self-love journey, ‘I show up for myself’
“A close friend asked, ‘Can you be a bridesmaid at my wedding?’ I realized I couldn’t do it with my usual head coverings. The whole time at the wig shop, I cried. With each one I tried on, I felt like I was giving up, forced to resign, like I was surrendering to a new life with no hope.”
