“He’d made so much progress that school year, and I knew being forced to leave his school would make things even more difficult for him if he was removed from his home.”
‘I cornered her. How was it possible someone so inexperienced could walk into a hospital and leave with another person’s baby? The little booklet read, ‘Your New Baby: An Instruction Manual.’
‘Our daughter was referred to as a number, I still remember that number to this day. I dropped to my knees and cried and begged and pleaded.’
“I felt so guilty, why couldn’t my body handle being pregnant?”
‘I kept hearing questions, ‘Should we keep resuscitating the baby? Mom, can we wheel you closer?’ I resisted coming closer; it meant goodbye.’: Woman pregnant with twins after infertility loses son after early labor
“Nurses and doctors flooded the bedside of a tiny precious human. My little boy. Alex stood off to the side letting the team work.”
‘I married a wealthy man at the age of 19. He was already divorced and 15 years older. I ran away and broke all ties with my parents. I was vulnerable.’
“I remember someone from another relationship telling me, ‘You should be happy, at least I am taking off one major thing in your to-do list by marrying you!’ I made the decision that my son and I will never meet him again. People often remind me I am a single mother. I tell them, ‘I was a single mother even when I was married.’”
‘I still remember where I was standing. A 19 year old girl wanted to chat. Something didn’t feel right. Then we saw her from a distance.’
“We knew there was a 72 hour waiting period where the birth parents minds could change and so could our world.”
‘Slightly panicked, I asked where she’d like to go for the first date. Anywhere in the city. ‘Steak-n-Shake. I want you to see me in all my glory,’ she replied. That’s when I truly started to fall in love.’
“I like to think I am funny, so I used the movie quote, ‘My idea of a perfect date is April 25th…’ I truly thought nothing more of it, until a few days later, when she matched with me. She sent me a message to my Tinder inbox. ‘Because it’s not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light Jacket.’ I was surprised.”
‘Stephanie, our daughter is defective.’ Her father left us after learning of her diagnosis. I wondered how the rest of the world would accept her.’: Single mom raises daughter with Down syndrome
“He reminisced about how he and his friends in school used to make fun of people with Down syndrome and scream across the playground calling them the ‘R’ word. He continued to state, ‘People will look at Hannah and feel sorry for us, and then they will blame this on me.’”
‘Momma, can you call the judge? I need you to be my mom.’: Single mom adopts 3 brothers from foster care
“We started visiting Jeremy’s siblings. One visit changed my life forever. I felt a little tug on my shirt. His brother said, ‘Are you Jeremy’s mom?’ I said, ‘Yeah buddy, I am.’ Then came his crushing response: ‘Will you be my mom too?’ In less than a week, I was officially a single mom of three boys.”
‘I screamed ‘Do you need to pee?’ at my 4-year-old during her game. She said, ‘No,’ then peed her pants. Couldn’t help but respect her dedication to the game.’
“We’re two weeks into soccer season. Practice is on Tuesday afternoons, so we can have dinner at 3 p.m. or 10 p.m. My 4-year-old listens to her soccer coach better than she’s EVER listened to me in the history of her life, and I’m trying really hard not to be bitter about that.”
‘As a mom, you just KNOW. Something didn’t feel right.’: Mother discusses son’s autism diagnosis
“I wish I could’ve jumped into one of those passing cars and pretended it never happened. That I hitchhiked, ran away, disappeared. I thought we could find someone to ‘fix’ my son. As the woman in the office spoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth. I knew the word that would come. I didn’t believe her.”