“‘Do you have any crushes on girls in your class?’ It was hard to get away with answering ‘no.’ I thought of sending myself to conversion therapy. We couldn’t understand why we weren’t sexually attracted to women. Having this picture embedded in our heads of a hyper-masculine culture messed us up. We knew sooner or later something, or someone, would have to give.”
‘I’ve been seeing a boy for a year.’ I wasn’t changing. My family was going to be disappointed. We are Catholic.’: Gay twin brothers come out to parents, ’We struggled with the fact we could lose family for being who we are.’
‘A portion of her chromosome is missing.’ We had to prick her on the foot to get her conscious again.’: Mom of special needs twins, one with a chromosomal deficit, one autistic, says ‘I never imagined my journey as a mom would look this way’
“A few weeks later, we received the results. ‘Julius has a diagnosis of autism.’ I went from raising one special needs child to two. I learned quickly I would not be able to have typical ‘mom’ conversations with other new moms. I realized most things parents took for granted were not part of my journey.”
‘I’m so sorry. My wife died in a car accident. She wanted to hang out with you guys.’ He had tears in his eyes as he grabbed his daughter’s hand.’: Mom ‘forever changed’ by chance encounter with stranger, ‘You never know what someone is going through’
“I had lunch at Sam’s Club with my twins. A little girl with blonde hair ran up and sat next to us. I looked around for the mom. Didn’t see anyone. ‘This is so odd. If the mom doesn’t come over soon, I’ll have to get an employee.’ I’m searching all the women at the food court. Dad finally walks up. ‘Hey, thanks for letting her sit here.’ I smiled. ‘No problem at all!’ When it was time to go, we walked towards the door. She followed us. I got a little uneasy. Is she scared of him? Then he approached us.”
‘I kept crying out, ‘Please wait! It’s too early!’ I was 19, pregnant with quadruplets. My water broke at just 24 weeks and wouldn’t stop.’: Teen mom births miracle micro-preeme after losing 3 of her quadruplets
“I stopped feeling my girls move. I lifted my shirt over my baby bump. I could see the ultrasound as the tech moved the wand around. I knew immediately something was wrong. I started to cry to my fiancé. ‘I can’t lose my babies. I can’t.’ The words were burned into me, ‘Babies B and C no longer have heartbeats.’ My cervix was giving out. ‘What else could go wrong?,’ I asked. I had to stay strong so my survivor could have a chance.”
‘They’re gone, we lost them.’ A substitute teacher touched my belly. There was no belly. I had to mutter these words.’: Couple struggling with Fragile X Syndrome, infertility, finally pregnant with rainbow baby, ‘People tell me how strong I am. I wasn’t given another choice.’
“We were having identical twin girls. My husband and I were overjoyed. But our twins did not develop their brains. We lost both our little girls. Because I am a teacher, I had to write to all of my students’ parents about what happened, asking them to explain it to their 5-year-old children. There was no belly. I had to mutter the words, ‘They’re gone, we lost them.’ It leaves behind scars, fears, and triggers.”
‘They could offer me a promotion. What do you think about that?’ I brought up the topic to my husband hesitantly.’: Mom shamelessly turns down promotion to spend more time with toddler twins
“Our identical twin sons were 16 months old and had spent their life in and out of hospitals. He paused, toy in hand, as he picked up the living room floor. His response was surprising. Work will always be there, but my babies won’t always be this small.”
‘Are you experiencing any stress?’ I hadn’t had a menstrual cycle since I was 15. My husband had testicular cancer when he was 21.’: Mom battles preeclampsia while birthing first set of twins, ‘We need to deliver immediately’
“While I was at the gym, I felt a sudden gush. At first, I thought it was water, but I looked down and saw blood. I panicked, fearing the worst. Everything seemed better. I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well and went into the bathroom. There was blood everywhere – it looked like a murder scene. Miraculously the babies were fine. I noticed my legs were severely swollen and I had a bad headache. My husband took one look at my ‘cankles’ and said, ‘We need to call the doctor, NOW.”
‘As our boys stood at the finish line, we saw something ignite inside them. They began jumping up and down!’: Mom finds ‘magical’ hobby for autistic twins after 15 years of searching
“My boys are twins and both severely autistic. They can’t have a job, make friends, or drive a car. But we noticed early on that they had a special gift: running. My husband and I thought, ‘Why are we standing on the sidelines watching them? We want to do this, too!’ Their excitement was contagious.”
‘I wouldn’t use Chapstick. I was afraid I might lick my lips and accidentally swallow some of it, convinced it would make me fat.’: Woman suffering eating disorder is admitted to recovery center, ‘We aren’t treated like people. We were treated like patients’
“All doors were alarmed, and I was surrounded by strangers. My identical twin made me a blanket to take to treatment. She wanted me to feel at home. The staff wouldn’t allow me to have it. Since I was still on Red level, I wasn’t allowed into my bedroom. I sat on the floor in the hallway by my room and cried to my mom on the phone, begging her to bring me home. As I cried on the floor, a patient walked up to me and handed me a little slip of paper. He had written ‘You can do this’ on a scrap of paper. I sobbed. I still have his note.”
‘I signed up for this. Messes, timeouts and blow outs. You know what I didn’t sign up for? Multiple hospital stays.’: Mom says it’s not about the ‘mess’ it’s about the ‘lesson’
“I’m not ever going to tell them that I wasn’t thinking about the mess, and that I was loving their little faces and the joy that was taking place. That’s MY secret. But it’s the little things. Really. It’s not really about WHO cleans up the mess, it’s about the lesson.”
