Rebecca Balfe is a former editor for Love What Matters. She resides in NYC, owning and rescuing adorable cats. She is an avid Lupus fighter and advocate.
‘You’re OK now. You’re safe.’ WRONG. They assumed I wanted drugs. ‘We need to start treatment ASAP.’: Woman recovers from addiction, battles Lupus, ‘I CHOOSE not to let life get me down’
“’I can tell by your tears no one has ever believed you, have they?’ I said no. ‘Well, I do.’ I was right, and now there was evidence.”
‘You’re stuck with me now!’ The dads and I got closer than I thought possible. ‘Soon, this will be your reality.’: Surrogate births baby for same-sex couple, ‘I’m so blessed to provide joy for families’
“I sent the dads an update of what size fruit or vegetable baby was each week. ‘You’re so much stronger than most people.’ I felt those words so deeply.”
‘You knew who he was when you married him.’ I just have to be a good housewife. I have no other option.’: Woman escapes abusive marriage, ‘My son can finally be a normal kid’
“This was it. THIS was the time he’d change. ‘You have to forgive him if you want to be happy.’”
‘Home please. Home PLEASE!’ He looked like a living skeleton. Fear made time stop.’: Young boy beats liver cancer, ‘We have a new outlook on life’
“‘You can’t eat baby, it’ll hurt you.’ We agreed he could hold them. He took a cookie out and breathed in. ‘Mmmmmm.’ Then he put the cookie back in its bag. It broke my heart.”
‘I’ll just be a fat mom.’ Over 14 years, I had 5 more babies. Now what? I knew I wasn’t finished.’: Mom of 8 transforms body, ‘Be PROUD of what your body can do’
“I felt so proud but looking back, it was just sad. Unfortunately, it was the norm for girls my age.”
‘If I make her breakfast at 3 a.m. and wash her hair, maybe I can save her!’ I won’t tell her yet.’: Daughter takes care of mom before she passes, ‘I never gave up on you’
“‘Why me?’ she’d ask. But I was 22 and very much alive, how could I know? ‘We aren’t done fighting.’”
‘They let children go to TWO MEN? And she’s BLACK!’ She stood with a pen in one hand and paper in the other.’: Gay dads encounter judgement, ‘See the love, not the people”
“’How’d you get her?’ I responded, ‘We adopted her.’ Her eyes bulged. ‘I’m just in shock. TWO WHITE MEN?’’
‘They aren’t mine to keep.’ She can’t leave her husband. They’re just as scared as I am.’: Foster mom fights for reunification, ‘I want families to be whole again’
“‘I couldn’t give them back.’ It can happen to anyone. She can’t make it without you.”
‘Please, get me my husband!’ I could only hold her tiny hand through a hole in a plastic box.’: NICU baby survives the odds, ‘She’s tiny but so strong’
‘They watched helplessly as I was wheeled away. ‘Is she breathing?’ She was so tiny but SO strong.”
‘When we saw the ultrasound, I almost fainted. ‘We need to hire some staff!’ It was an enormous gift.’: Gay dads welcome triplets through surrogacy, ‘We’re surrounded by love’
“We’d basically given up hope. We never asked them. They asked US. Two women wanted to help us create the family we had always wanted.”