“Before that day, I had not been told my birth mom’s name. After reading her letter, I looked her up online and followed her on Instagram. She instantly messaged me. Growing up, I often wondered what my birth mom would be like, but I never imagined she would be such a beautiful person inside and out.”
“Her foster mom handed Areum to me, and all I could do was thank her, telling her we would meet again one day. Then, holding our daughter, I watched the doors of the elevator slowly close, with tears in my eyes.”
“I hated the idea someone could walk into my children’s lives and automatically gain their love. They’d run up to her, give her kisses, and tell her they loved her. Honestly, my heart broke every time. I had no idea what boundaries should be in place or what steps were best for the children. There was no handbook for co-parenting, and I was desperately grasping at straws.”
“I cried the moment I saw my little baby inside of a plastic box.”
“Was this real?! I cupped my hand over my mouth in disbelief. I couldn’t process all of the emotions I was feeling. I was crying, laughing, and just kept looking at the test.”
“When I felt alone, I would hear someone’s story that was similar to mine, and it gave me hope. That’s what I want my podcast to do. I want to educate and inspire people.”
“I held out the framed photograph for her. Tears overwhelmed her. I instinctively reached out, ‘I’m rooting for you.’”
“I stood by her crib and stared at the greatest gift I had ever been given, my beautiful baby girl. As I looked at her, tears flooded out of me uncontrollably. I couldn’t drink — if not for me in that moment, for her.”
“Disability Pride is a journey. It’s messy, chaotic, disorganized. But my pride is my own, and no one gets to touch that.”
“We don’t have to be best friends, follow each other on social media, hang out as a family, or even communicate about non-child centered things… but we do have to make it work for our kids.”
