“I chose an amazing woman to be the mother of the child I birthed. And yet, I no longer knew how to approach her. Nine years after placing my daughter the adoption agency called me with news that would change the rest of my life. My birth daughter’s family had contacted them to see if I would be willing to meet.”
‘I was 14 and pregnant. ‘Would you be willing to meet?’ 9 years after she was born, my birth daughter’s family encouraged her to hug me. I didn’t want to let go.’: Woman shares perspective as an adopted child, birth mom, and adoptive mom
‘Who are you?!’ Strangers were looking for my ex. Suddenly, I felt intense pain in my pregnant stomach. I’d been shot.’: Woman loses baby to gunshot wound in robbery, ‘I spent 8 beautiful days on Earth with her’
“The EMT arrived. I couldn’t feel my baby girl moving anymore. ‘Please help her!’ I begged. They tried to detect the heartbeat, but couldn’t. Last thing I remember, I was being wheeled into the ER, all eyes on me. When I first saw her, she was motionless. ‘The decision is up to you. When you say enough is enough, she’ll be put to rest.’ They removed the tubes, but she continued to breathe. She kept fighting to stay alive.”
‘3 months after our son’s death, I was unexpectedly pregnant again. We couldn’t believe it. We couldn’t fathom having another child.’: Mom says she was ‘destroyed’ after SIDS loss, but newborn daughter ‘saved me’
“We stood in a field having our gender reveal photos taken. I was 17 weeks pregnant. We shared our announcement photos. A year later to the day, he was gone. We said that was it, we were done. But, 11 months after he left this earth, his sister was due to arrive.”
‘She’s going to die soon. I’m just dating her out of pity.’ He had a girlfriend in another state. He was a horrible man.’: Single mom finds courage to leave abusive husband, new fiancé, to be ‘strong, thriving’ for 4-year-old son
“He took me out. We drank too much. I woke up the next morning in shock. I didn’t remember consenting to anything. We found out I was pregnant and I was terrified. Everything inside me was saying to detach from my son’s father. Instead, we did ‘the right thing’ and got married.”
‘At 18, I hid an entire pregnancy all the way up to delivery. I refused to tell anyone. I was ashamed and afraid.’: Teen birth mom’s candid lessons learned after choosing adoption for her daughter, reuniting with her 18 years later
“After graduating high school just months prior, with a 5+ month baby belly hidden under my gown, I was rushed into ‘the next chapter.’ The pregnancy was over, and I just wanted to be a ‘good girl.’ No baby in my arms, I cut ties with her father. Then blink! I reunited with my baby days shy of her 18th birthday.”
‘My kids were unplanned and accidental. I never wanted to be a mom. I don’t enjoy playing with my kids. I don’t like being touched or needed.’: Mom recalls struggles of motherhood before finding ‘beautiful love’ in children
“Every single day, I feel resentment, sadness, frustration. I reminisce about my lost freedom. The days I would wake up with energy, pull out my to-do list, and get everything done. The days when I could hop in the car and run a quick errand, take a nap, or shower whenever I wanted. The days I could set BIG goals and actually attain them.”
‘That wasn’t our baby, and he got to stay with his mama.’ Couple’s failed adoption leads to beautiful open relationship with new birth mom. ‘I never felt a love so strong.’
“She was only four months along, I felt my nerves spike. She and I held hands and laid eyes on that sweet boy together for the first time. We both cried and cried. ‘This is the moment our lives change forever,’ she said. He loves and adores her, but that doesn’t make us any less of his parents.”
