“I’m 7 when a stranger approaches, points. ‘Who does she belong to?’ ‘Where are your real parents?’ I’m 12 and a group of boys spit on me, call me racist slurs. My crush’s mom tells me he isn’t allowed to be with people ‘like me.’ I can’t sleep. ‘You’re not really black.’ ‘You can’t really be Mennonite.’ I’m just now learning to be gentle with myself, and my past.”
‘I bet you’re glad someone actually wanted you.’ Black? Adopted by a white, Mennonite family?’: Adopted woman finally accepts she’s ‘innately enough’ after years of torment for ‘mixed-race’ family
‘I can tell by the tears in your eyes no one has believed you, have they?,’ he asked. ‘No, they haven’t.’ He then replied, ‘Well I believe you.’ I had felt like a crazy person.’
“This man was 11 years older than me. We ended up getting married. I felt pressured into this marriage, as if I had no other option. So I did. He had dark secrets. I remember screaming for help. But no one would.”
‘I came downstairs to 3 missed calls. The hotel staff found my husband unconscious at 32. No warning. My love was there one second, gone the next.’: Wife suddenly loses husband to heart disease after collapsing on treadmill
“I remember him grabbing his bags to head out on his business trip, swinging them around his shoulder, and walking up to me at the island where I was making breakfast. He kissed me and told me he loved me. That would be the last time I would ever see him.”
‘WHAT ABOUT THIS MONTH. LETS GET MARRIED?!’ Part of me was kidding. I walked down the aisle as a 17-year-old, wiped my tears.’: Teen mom now mother to 10 kids, ‘We’re living BIG!’
“‘Don’t settle. 17-year-old’s aren’t supposed to get married! You’ll ruin your life!!’ We’d fantasized about an early June wedding at sunset the following year. Life roared to a halt. ‘Pregnant,’ it read. Wife I was ready for, but mother?! ‘I’m not supposed to be a mama yet!’ Reality hit. ‘We’ve found your son to be several weeks premature. We’ve also discovered a mass.’ Oh our hearts. I can feel the shatter to this day. At 29, we welcomed our 10th precious baby at home.”
‘I’m doing this because I want to impress you.’ I crouched down next to him. ‘You are already stronger than I ever was at your age by just getting up here.’ ‘Really?’ He asked.’
“I was on the top of a waterfall with my 11-year-old son, waiting for him to jump, when he looked like he was about to cry. He made a dozen half starts, but then backed away. My father would’ve told me to toughen up.”
‘What are you doing in the boy’s bathroom? You look like a girl!’ The longer it got, the more judgemental others got.’: Boy grows hair to donate to kids in need, ‘Heart, not hair is what matters’
“‘That is such irresponsible parenting.’ He knew his own story. He knew the battles I’d faced when he was just a tiny little thing, and he wanted to help other families who were not as lucky as us. He had this big grin on his face when he touched the back of his head and felt his neck.”
‘Yes, I punched my child, but I did it out of love to save my child from being eaten whole.’: Woman shares hilarious mom fail after run-in with wolf spider
“My baby is sitting in the flowers. ALL OF A SUDDEN, A MASSIVE WOLF SPIDER MAKES HIS DEBUT ON HER MOTHER LOVIN’ DRESS! It sees me, I see him, and we lock eyes.”
‘Even when it doesn’t make sense, keep fighting.’: Woman details divorce, custody battle with ex
“Panic started to set in. Time went by, and no one showed up. Finally someone answered their phone. My knees buckled. I dropped to the ground. They weren’t coming. They wouldn’t tell me where she was. My daughter cried in the background. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know if I would ever see her again. He had filed for divorce without my knowledge and was granted full custody. Everything was chaos.”
‘We felt left out of the parents’ club. It was comical how easily everybody else could have a baby. You’d look around the zoo, the grocery store, the mall. EVERY.SINGLE. PERSON has 1, 2, 3 kids.’
“You are living a cruel joke. Our insurance covered nothing! The financial aspects were flat out ridiculous and unfair. You literally throw thousands of dollars down the toilet with every unsuccessful attempt.”
After Battling Infertility For 14 Years, My Sister Offered To Be My Surrogate
“Each of my siblings had kids while I battled infertility for FOURTEEN YEARS. How could they relate? Family gatherings became a reminder of what we didn’t have, so we stopped attending holidays and family events altogether. We had more nieces and nephews than we could count…what were we doing wrong? WELL. As of 2 weeks ago, I stood at the end of a hospital bed and delivered my daughter into the world!”