“After years of infertility, we walked into the delivery room and saw our son sleeping in his little crib. The joy I felt overshadowed all the despair. I cannot describe it; I felt like my heart was going to explode and I just cried. I was finally a mother.”
‘This amazing, selfless birth mother. We owe her everything.’: Infertility warrior shares journey to adopting boy into forever family
‘You may have a medical certificate, but you don’t have a certificate in me.’: Woman with rare disease pleas for doctors’ compassion, trust
“There are so many conditions out there and it’s impossible to know how to respond to them all, but patience, kindness, compassion, and a belief in your patient is a good place to start.”
‘One day, I woke up and said, ‘I’m so done with this.’ If death didn’t want me, maybe it was time to give life another chance.’: Woman shares anorexia recovery journey, now helps others
“With each new test result, my parents would sigh, and I could feel the hope leaving their bodies with each of these breaths. I saw them cry, almost daily, until it seemed their tears had run dry. And I think it’s only then it really sank in… they had given up hope.”
‘Delivering chocolate cake wasn’t on my to-do list, but I couldn’t have chosen a better way to use my 12 minutes.’: Woman shares importance of small acts of kindness
“I used to think to show someone I cared I had to go all out. That a kind gesture needed to reflect a lot of time or money or be Instagram-able in order to be truly meaningful. But guess what? People just long to be thought of.”
5 Things Co-Parenting Is Not
“It all stops being fun and games when one or more people decide to take it upon themselves to play judge, jury, and executioner. Things get complicated, high conflict personalities flare, resentments resurface, and we’re back at ground zero.”
5 Simple Changes To Immediately Improve Your Marriage
“After years of trial and error, I can confidently say I have stumbled upon a few ‘quick fixes’ that almost instantly made my marriage better.”
‘I told the operator my husband was in anaphylactic shock from a bee sting and to come immediately.’: Widowed mother shares journey to fulfilling life after tragic loss
“During the car ride to the hospital, I prayed harder than I’d ever prayed for Ryan’s heart to start beating again. I didn’t know what I was praying for, being completely ignorant to the consequences of an individual being deprived of oxygen for so long.”
I Met My Father For The First Time In My Late 30s
“My dad had a massive heart attack. I remember thinking I may never get to meet this man, and if I didn’t in this lifetime, I didn’t think I’d ever truly be OK. I packed a few things and jumped in the car.”
‘She was born at 22 weeks and 1 day, so by hospital policy, they refused any life-saving measures.’: Bereaved mom shares grief journey, spreads kindness in daughter’s honor
“I dropped to my knees, tears pouring down my cheeks. I couldn’t breathe. When my husband came through the door, I ran to him with pure excitement. This was it. We were finally going to be parents and I was on cloud 9!”
‘I can’t do this. I don’t want to live anymore.’ When chronic pain robs you of everything you love, things can get pretty dark.’: Woman shares extensive chronic pain, diagnosis journey
“I later learned this is one of the most painful conditions known to man. People often ask me how I lived with it for so many years.”
‘I can just go with them!’ We all froze and stared at her. We knew we had to move forward with this alignment of fate.’: Young couple become first-time parents through unexpected adoption
“Brandon and I got into our car and he broke his silence. ‘We either have to find her a family or we are that family.'”
‘I gasped so loud Dylan ran in. ‘Is this the baby?’ I held onto it, utterly confused and shocked.’: Woman details pregnancy loss, grieving process on path to rainbow baby
“I looked up at Dylan and we both started sobbing, all while the remaining pieces of my pregnancy left my body.”
‘I felt like I couldn’t leave. Like only sinners left. That God wouldn’t love me if I left.’: Young, queer woman details leaving toxic church culture
“My feelings about girls weren’t going away, no matter how much I prayed to God. When I’d have to go to church or school, I’d be reminded I was going to go to hell for my thoughts and feelings.”
‘My whole body hurt every day. I could barely bend down.’: Mom shares journey with Rheumatoid Arthritis, POTS, Lupus
“They couldn’t find Luke’s heartbeat for several minutes. I started to go in and out of consciousness. Before they could even put the partition up, they had begun a crash vertical C-section.”
‘What will you tell your son?’ While posed as a threat, it holds a sentiment this chapter taught me. My truth.’: Divorcee goes on emotional self-love journey
“As much as I tried not to let marriage and motherhood consume me, they did. With each immeasurable compromise, parts of me were lost. It happened slowly, over time, and I didn’t catch this until it was too late. Until I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize who I was.”
After 21 Years Of Marriage, I Came Out As Gay At 41 Years Old
“It was an unlikely love story, if only because neither of us had ever dreamed of any other life than the one we’d each had as straight, married, small-town, hockey moms.”
‘Jeffery was where he belonged and I wouldn’t give him up for anything. He’ll never be hurt by anyone ever again.’: Widow finalizes adoption of nephew with Shaken Baby Syndrome
“Jeffery will always struggle to catch up with others his age, but I will be right here pushing him to be all he can be. Jeffery is the best of us all and deserves the world.”
‘They didn’t stay because he was ‘lifeless,’ leaving Jeffery with the nurses and machines for company. I knew I had to be there for him.’: Aunt details caring for Shaken Baby Syndrome survivor
“The second we got off the elevator my heart dropped to my feet. I wasn’t ready for what I was about to see. We walked only a few hundred feet but it seemed like miles. I remember the smell of saline and alcohol as if I was there. The beeping and the sounds of the machines working to keep my nephew alive still haunt my dreams.”
An Autism Diagnosis At 35 Inspired Her To Create Change: ‘I’m Already Dispelling Stereotypes Left By Neurotypical Professionals’
“In April of 2015, I was diagnosed, and it was the day my life truly began. Everything fell into place, and I finally had the validation I needed to feel safe and comfortable in my own skin.”
‘I didn’t think I could get any better than him, and he made sure I believed that.’: Aboriginal woman shares inspiring story escaping poverty, domestic violence
“I completely fell in love with the gym and how it made me feel like I had control and power over something for the first time in my life. I was addicted to getting better physically and mentally.”
‘Dating a coworker with 6-year-old twins was very scary to him, understandably. But he was falling in love.’: Mom shares sweet love story, blended family journey, desire to adopt
“I was walking down the hallway at the office the day after our first date (and kiss!) and thought about Chris and skipped. Like, legit, on one foot, in the air, skipped. I knew Chris was special and I liked him, but skipping? I was in trouble.”
‘My daughter would have died a traumatic death, and I might not have survived if I’d miscarried.’: Mom discusses importance of abortion rights
“Protecting a woman’s autonomy, her legal right to control her body, is imperative. I could have been a contributing statistic to our growing maternal mortality rate.”
‘If we’d said no to this journey she’d be dead. Please know your YES matters to the life of an orphan.’: Couple compelled by faith pursue international, special needs adoptions
“The faces of the remaining orphans looked through the rod iron gate, waving goodbye with sad faces. Many of them will never experience the love of a family. It changed our hearts dramatically, and we knew we would adopt again.”
‘I’m tired of adoption being used by the pro-life movement as a substitute for abortion when there are 400,000 kids in foster care.’: Adoptee speaks out about overturn of Roe v. Wade
“Please do not put words in our mouths. We are here, and we have opinions of our own. Do not diminish our voices to, ‘At least your mom chose life.'”
‘I’ve always felt like everyone else was given an instruction manual to life, but not me.’: Autistic student shares diagnosis, unmasking journey
“‘Why don’t you do something normal for once?’ They would pretend to be interested in what I was doing but then talk to me like a baby and leave to go laugh with their friends. All of this was really confusing at the time, and I’m only just starting to realize how awful some of these people actually were.”