“‘Babies shouldn’t have babies!’ We were just 2 kids, living on minimum wage, trying to prove ourselves in a world which had already branded us failures.”
‘You’re going to be a dad.’ He towered over me and the world stopped. I was ‘that girl’ at 18.’: Teen mom beats odds, creates beautiful family, ‘They became my happily ever after’
‘You guys are no good.’ I fell pregnant at 15. The world was against us and things got worse.’: Teen mom shares beautiful relationship, ‘We are stronger together’
“I had to borrow medicine off the shelves when my son was sick because we couldn’t afford it. We were doing everything we could to get by. It never seemed like enough.”
‘I’m stuck at my parent’s with a baby I don’t deserve. My 19-year-old body was overwhelmed.’: Mom forgives herself for her past, embraces blended family
“‘I don’t deserve to mother him.’ Am I mom or a person? He was too perfect and I was too flawed. I had to forgive myself.’”
‘You can’t be pregnant…can you?’ I was an 18-year-old with an IUD in cancer remission. My chances after chemo were next to zero. ‘Of course not mom,’ I laughed.’: Teen mom births 1-pound miracle preemie after cancer, preeclampsia battle
“Next thing I know, I’m in the doctor’s office with a positive pregnancy test and a little 10-weeks fetus flickering on the screen. I went to the gynecologist to find my IUD dangling from my cervix. In my heart, I knew this was something special.”
‘I was the ‘teen mama with no prospects.’ But being a mom doesn’t mean your life has ended. Not even a little bit.’: Mom graduates nursing school with her children as inspiration, ‘I wouldn’t change a d*mn thing’
“The mama who had ‘given up the chance at a good life to raise two young children.’ The one who had chosen ‘mama’ over ‘life.’ Full stop. I had to show them both how everyone else was wrong.”
‘They held her eyes open with metal prongs. ‘Your little girl is blind.’ I had to protect her.’: Mom gives birth to 2 albino babies, ‘They were meant to do this together’
“Everywhere we went, people pointed. ’Ew, what’s wrong with her eyes?’ I’d come home angry at the world. ‘I’ll just bubblewrap her and keep her by my side forever.’ She made her own path.”
‘What will everyone think of me?’ I was a naïve 16-year-old, browsing ‘symptoms of pregnancy.’ I knew the only option was adoption.’: Teen mom details pregnancy and adoption journey, reunites with daughter 20 years later
“‘No, it hasn’t been long enough. I haven’t had enough time with her.’ I watched them drive away with her. I would always have this love for her, a love a mother carries for their child. I would always see the best of everything in her. She was the only perfect thing I have ever done. I never stopped missing her.”
‘The letter said, ‘I’m your daughter. Can you meet me?’ She’s the secret that ate away at me for 18 years.’: Birth mom reunites with daughter, shares healing journey
“This amazing human I had given birth to was a complete stranger.”
‘The nurse came in and said, ‘Her new parents are ready for her.’ Only 15, I kissed her soft baby cheek, and placed her into the arms of her mama.’: Teen mom embarks on ‘beautiful’ open adoption journey, ‘I couldn’t have picked better parents’
“I hid my pregnancy for 7 months. I should’ve been picking the perfect dress for Winter Ball. Instead, I was writing a birth plan. Once my sobs slowed, I looked at her birth father and said, ‘Those are the people who will raise our baby girl.’ I wavered. I fought. I broke. But in the end, I knew what I needed to do.”
‘My dad is the town crackhead. He cried when he met my son for the first time. Every year for my birthday, he gets me a present.’: Daughter to addict urges ‘he was someone before drugs’
“Next time you see an addict on the street and you think they’re just a junkie or piece of garbage, please remember that’s someone’s family, someone’s dad, someone son, someone’s sibling, and they were someone before drugs or alcohol took them over. My dad may be an addict, but he never stops trying.”
