“She caught me by surprise. ‘What would you do if I dated a girl?’ I immediately told her, ‘If you date a girl, you’re going to hell.’ The instant the words escaped my lips, something else hit me harder than the fear of my child in hell. I broke her heart. I never thought my child would be gay. I began noticing small cuts on her arms. I was losing her. I would have risked anything for her to find herself and be happy.”
‘If you date a girl, you’re going to hell.’ I broke her heart the instant the words escaped my lips.’: 14-year-old takes in cousin’s daughter as her own, helps her through homosexuality, self-harm, ‘We were always meant to be a family’
‘Someday, I hope we meet again.’ She didn’t forget me. They regretted the adoption. ‘We can take care of you.’: Mom re-adopts baby she gave up at birth 18 years later, learns to ’embrace the journey’
“I shared my story as a birth mom. ‘Will you adopt my baby boy?’ I broke into a smile and said, ‘Yes!’ Later the child I gave up previously was instructed to choose between us and her adoptive family. I am a birth mom of one adult daughter. I am a biological mom of three boys. I am an adoptive mom of one eleven-year-old boy. I didn’t realize dreams could be rebuilt, and emerge as something brand new and, one day, beautiful.”
‘I felt trapped. I got pregnant at 17. She gently rubbed my hand. ‘Everything will be alright.’: Mother of 10 overcomes suicide attempt, PTSD, trauma to learn to ‘conquer love’ for her children
“While camping, we came across a family with 4 boys. You could tell they weren’t camping – they lived there. I told my husband as we laid in our tent, ‘I have this weird feeling I know them. They are meant to be in my life.’ Later at church, a member asked if we’d take in 4 boys. My husband just got laid off. ‘Absolutely NOT.’ I was exhausted. When I then learned who the 4 boys were, my heart began to beating so fast.”
‘It happened. My husband messaged a woman I didn’t recognize. What I saw made me cry.’: Woman celebrates mental health growth after discovering her old texts, ‘I am nothing like that woman now’
“He was showering after a long day with our kids and happened to leave his phone on the table. Unlocked. For some reason, I felt compelled to look at his messages. I scroll up, hoping to see some cute old texts we sent months back. I wanted to re-read them, to smile. What I saw, made me want to cry. The person he was texting was a very broken woman.”
‘Birth control?!?!’ At 18, I was told I wouldn’t conceive. WELL, one little puck slipped past the goalie.’: Woman receives emergency hysterectomy at 23, ‘it still stings to think about’
“I was STRONGLY encouraged to wait for kids. My incision was paper thin. 3 months later, I was pregnant. My little baby was growing alongside fibroids the size of ORANGES. To make matters worse, he was sunny-side up. My life was in danger. In my foggy head, I heard, ‘Amber, we can’t get the bleeding to stop. Do you want your tubes tied?’ I woke up covered in blood.”
‘We should buy a test.’ ‘For what? I have an IUD. There’s no way!’’: 19-year-old mom has surprise pregnancy on the pill, second baby with IUD, ‘I can’t imagine my life any other way’
“WHAT!! How?? I had an alarm on my phone reminding me to take my pill every single day! She insisted I test anyway…sure enough, it was positive. ‘This isn’t a baby yet. You have options.’ Once I saw the baby on the ultrasound, I knew my only option was to give our child a chance at life. I knew God had a plan for me.”
‘How do you feel about being pregnant?’ I saw little eyes, fingers. ‘This must be a mistake.’ I was 100% knocked up.’: Teen mom loses boyfriend in car crash months before birth, graduates with 4.0
“I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh, be happy or sad. There was a real freaking baby in me! I had so many dreams and aspirations. Teen pregnancy was not in my plans. I dialed my father’s number. ‘Please don’t answer, please don’t answer.’ I took a deep breath. ‘Hello?’ I couldn’t speak. The worst was yet to come. I started bawling.”
‘It snapped me awake. What I thought was snoring, was actually the ‘death rattle.’: Woman remarries after high school sweetheart’s sudden death, creates big, blended family with new husband, ‘I love my husband’s ex-wife’
“I found myself breaking my set of rules with him right away. I never got in a car with someone. I went for a drive with him on the first date, to the middle of nowhere, to ‘look for owls.’ I told him to invite Meredith (his ex) over for Christmas morning. He was confused. I love my husband’s ex-wife.”
‘My dad begged, ‘PLEASE ASHLEY, do this for me.’ It broke me. I had to put an end to this.’: Young mom celebrates 2 years clean, meets husband in recovery, ‘I would’ve NEVER imagined this’
“Right after I turned 21, I got pregnant with my boyfriend of 2 months. We decided to keep the baby. I started abusing pills and continued breastfeeding while taking them. I told myself, ‘It can’t REALLY affect her through my breast milk.’ Her dad was smoking heroin. I’d pawn my daughter off on whoever would take her. Paying her dad to take her so I was free to do what I wanted. My daughter would wake up in the morning to find random strangers in the house. I thank God she was too little to remember any of that.”
‘She took her last breath in her daddy’s arms. She was absolutely beautiful, perfect. I wouldn’t survive.’: 18-year-old parents lose daughter at 20-days-old, says ‘you never get over it’
“‘There is nothing more we can do.’ We counted her tiny fingers, toes. She had my nose, and the most stunning blue-green eyes. We held her hand, stroked her hair. It was the first and last time my husband got to hold his daughter. The little girl whose name he chose. The nurse wrapped her in a white blanket and handed her to me. I took in every detail of her beautiful face, holding her tiny hand until all warmth was gone.”
