Emily Richey is a graduate of Pace University NYC. She has written and edited for multiple online platforms, including Love What Matters. She spends her free time petting stray cats.
‘My baby’s placenta never stopped growing. The doctors were confused.’: Couple pursues open adoption, ‘I will never forget those sacred moments’
“We were told her mama needed space. She had very little support and I just wanted to wrap my arms around her. I told the nurse, ‘Please let her know we love her.'”
‘She’s in heart failure.’ I’d most likely never get to meet her. We could deliver our stillborn baby.’: Woman gives birth to high risk baby with Down syndrome, ‘She defies all odds’
“We were sent to a high-risk OB every 2 weeks to see if her little heart had stopped beating. I was overcome with grief and despair. This was something that only happened to other people.”
‘I asked the birth mom, ‘Would you like alone time?’ She said yes. I knew it could change everything.’: Mom says ‘we are complete’ after long adoption journey
“I told him we’d need to let our social worker know his change in medical status. He broke down. We presented seven times. Seven no’s. I was discouraged.”
‘Can you take care of her hair?’ We’d be lying if we said we were fully prepared. We had work to do.’: Adoptive mom to transracial family says ‘we are committed to learn and grow’
“We didn’t know everything we needed to know when Josie was born. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. We acknowledged we needed to educate ourselves.”
‘It can’t be.’ We were shocked. ‘How in the world are we going to raise this army of littles?’: Foster mom shocked by pregnancy, cares for 5 under four, ‘I was made to be a mommy’
“I didn’t feel like I could give them what they needed. I wasn’t enough. I was telling myself these lies they were better off somewhere else. But I couldn’t make that choice. I couldn’t give up my children!”
‘The doctor said, ‘She’s bleeding out!’ I couldn’t breathe. I was told it’s ‘anxiety.’: Woman diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy during twin rainbow pregnancy, ‘I’m one of the lucky ones’
“I thought I wouldn’t be here to raise my babies. I remember thinking I was dying as I closed my eyes. I’m one of the lucky ones.”
‘I got pregnant. My father said I ‘ruined his reputation.’ A black family was not welcomed.’: Woman in interracial marriage says ‘my family is a symbol of unity’
“People would approach our daughter and ask if she was lost and needed help finding her mommy. We were followed and harassed by cops sometimes for miles while we drove. They demanded to know if he was a gang banger.”
‘I couldn’t walk away once, but twice, and not see them again.’: Woman loses 2 babies to congenital muscle disease
“I didn’t want anyone to die, especially not my child. Especially not two of my children. But that’s what happened.”
‘He’s old enough to be alone. Why do you always have to babysit your brother?’ No one understood. I promised to protect him.’: Older sister becomes advocate to brother with autism, ‘He is my biggest teacher’
“I felt this huge need to protect him. Children would laugh at him and call him stupid. I screamed at them and stood up for him. The older I got, the angrier I was and the more pain I felt. I didn’t know what to do.”
‘You get smaller, but so does your will to live. Your parents are watching this disorder tear you apart, layer by layer.’: 16-year-old with autism diagnosed with eating disorder, ‘It’s been so beautiful to watch myself come back’
“My younger self was so happy and full of life. Her smile was genuine and her eyes glistened with hope. Her little laugh radiated so much joy. She was beautiful and unafraid. No meal was too big and no mountain was too high to overcome. She deserved so much more than who I became.”