“Walls were painted blue, gendered gifts purchased, and everyone in the delivery room was shocked when I entered the world with a vagina. And before I turned one year old, I was forcibly sterilized. Or, in simpler terms, castrated.”
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‘He’s mixed-race, right? He’ll always have yellow in him.’ I was SHOCKED.’: Asian woman shares experience with racism, ‘Silence is not an option’
“I was quiet. I didn’t want to cause a scene. I didn’t know better.”
‘I said goodbye to my kids at drop off, with a plan in place to be executed that afternoon.’: Mom of two celebrates 2 years sobriety, finds love
“To the outside, I was this happy-go-lucky, life of the party with no worries. I’d wake up with an empty bottle of wine next to my bed and no recollection of drinking it because I took an Ambien. I’d go to bed every night, begging to not wake up the next morning.”
‘We don’t know anything for sure, but…’ The doctor sat down with a grave expression.’: Mom gives birth to son with ultra-rare chondrodysplasia punctata
“I was swiftly and abruptly thrust into an entirely different world than any of my friends. I sat alone in the grief and stewed.”
‘I wasn’t comfortable in my own skin. I was there for everyone else but not for myself.’: Limb difference advocate urges ‘stop comparing yourself to others’
“I was a people pleaser. ‘If I put their needs before mine, maybe they’ll like me more.’ Deep down, I wasn’t happy with myself.”
‘I looked down during my shower, bleary-eyed from yet another 4 a.m. wake up call, to a baby crawling between my legs and toys scattered between my wet feet.’: Burnt out mom urges ‘you don’t have to love every second’
“My 3-year-old sat chattering on the toilet I still need to scrub, while the shrieks of her siblings pierced the background. I had a laundry list of things running through my mind that needed to be accomplished and not a single clue how I was going to make it come to fruition. And I was weary.”
‘My lungs were running out of space. One by one, experts turned me away. I knew there was purpose in the pain.’: Osteogenesis Imperfecta warrior urges ‘life is worth fighting for’
“‘The risks are too great. You should just live with what you have left.’ I still felt in my heart this was something I needed to do.”
‘You’re so strong…’ 3 little words I often hear as a parent to a very special girl.’ I don’t want to be, but here I am, giving the middle finger to her diagnoses.’: First-time mom shares special needs journey
“After weeks of grieving, we said ‘screw it.’ We decided we were 100% going to up and move our entire lives to a new city 7 hours away.”
‘What happened to your face and neck?’ In the blink of an eye, my brother became a monster.’: Childhood abuse survivor urges ‘letting go is the best gift we can give ourselves’
“There were blue-black marks everywhere. One never truly knows how fragile life is until you nearly lose it.”
‘You’re better off with someone younger,’ I joked, certain he’d wake up one day, realize how old I am, and run as fast as he can.’: Divorcee shares powerful love story, ‘Time is just a number’
“‘Forties is IT! Who wants an old woman like me?’ Then I met a younger man. A man who didn’t care about my age at all.”
‘At 11, I already had a gym membership and a trainer. I had 5 medications by age 13.’: Woman on weight loss journey says ‘I need to be the healthiest me’
“I’d walk my dog and people would scream things out of their car windows. I even lost out on job opportunities because I did not ‘look’ the part. It was time to do something.”
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“I never in a million years thought I’d be divorced, but I’m not ashamed.”
‘We were warned, ‘She’ll only sleep on top of you in bed.’ She was terrified of books and baths.’: Mom candidly shares challenges of foster care, ‘I’m right where I want to be’
“I felt judged by medical professionals. They thought it was my fault she hadn’t seen a doctor yet in her 2 years of life. We’re all she has.”
‘There are days I hide behind the bathroom door and cry. It never gets easier.’: Foster mom shares ways to support foster families
“The truth is there’s never a good time to become a foster parent, because there’s never a good time to sign up to have your heart broken.”
‘This is what you DESERVE.’ Even my previous therapists made snide comments.’: Woman in recovery for eating disorder says ‘recovery is BEAUTIFUL’
“’You don’t deserve this pain. Not only that, you don’t deserve anything which has been done to you to cause this pain.’ I believed her.”
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“You won’t break them.”
‘I was called freak, alien, monster. ‘When will this end? Did I make a mistake by not amputating my leg?’: Limb difference advocate says ‘I’m proud to stand out’
“I had a giant cage-looking contraption on my leg 75% of the time. The names and whispers echoed through the hallways. The pain took its toll on me.”
‘Autism WON today.’: Mom of autistic children details highs and lows, ‘We return to the fight stronger each time’
“I sat in the car after carrying a kicking and screaming Luca, who yelled, ‘Help Me! Listen to me! I don’t like you!’ clawing at my arms and pulling my hair as we passed a security guard.”
‘I hobbled away from my 7th laser hair removal treatment, weeping. In less than an hour, my life was changed.’: Woman with chronic pain condition finds ‘purpose in the pain’
“I didn’t want to lay in bed for the rest of my life and give in to the depression. I still had life to live.”
‘We should get married at the hospital.’ I shot him down. ‘Babe, you’re getting out. I have hope.’: Woman loses husband to cancer 5 days after wedding, ‘He was the man of my dreams’
“It all started with his stomach hurting. We thought it was just acid, or reflux. He looked at me and said, ‘What if it’s cancer?’ My mind went numb.”
‘I’m FINE.’ At 545 lbs, I was 25 years old and ‘invincible.’: Man embarks on 300-pound weight-loss journey, ‘I have my life back’
“I was the fat kid in school, and given the nickname ‘Big Mike.’ People thought I was tougher than I actually was. ‘Nothing will happen to me because I’m young.’”
‘I will RUIN you.’ I packed for my LIFE.’: Mom and kids escape abusive relationship, ‘I want to help bring justice for others’
“’I will find you.’ I packed the car with my daughter, and drove to the gas station. I didn’t even know how to put gas in! I realized it’s time to change people’s perceptions about abuse.”
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“You deserve to be heard, at the bare MINIMUM.”
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“If there was a school shooter, my son wouldn’t hide. If there was a fire, he wouldn’t run. If someone took advantage of him, he couldn’t speak up. If someone abused him, he wouldn’t fight back.”
‘The 4-year-olds were BULLIES. He couldn’t tell us what was wrong.’: Mom urges ‘teach kindness’ for Autism Acceptance Month
“They were taking his device and hiding it, and when the teacher wasn’t looking, they’d push him down. I was floored.”