“The ultrasound tech made a funny face. ‘I’ll be right back.’ Moments later, she entered with another technician. ‘See this?’ she said. ‘This is baby A, and this is baby B.’ TWINS? From a one-night stand? I was 6 months pregnant when I came home from school to my dad wanting to talk. ‘Mom and I think you should give this child away.’ I was angry, heartbroken, and completely beside myself. 13 days later, I found myself in a courtroom.”
‘One line. Please, one line.’ I was 17, peeing on a stick in a McDonald’s bathroom. 3 minutes later, two pink lines showed my fate.’: Single teen mom becomes twin mom, birth mom, adoptive mom, and stepmom, now mom of 8
‘Mom, why are you keeping a homework assignment?’ I had to sit facing her. I wanted her to know I wasn’t afraid.’ Mom shares grief journey after losing daughter to cancer, ‘We’re going to be okay’
“We walk in the room, and stand quietly. I start to cry. Well, that was fast. One outfit sends you spinning into a memory. We had stopped at a light and flagged down a police officer to escort us. She was bleeding everywhere. The outfit was ruined.”
‘I was a single mom with 2 little girls. Out of nowhere, this man walks into my life. What did HE truly want? Yes, he is a great man.’: Wife shares appreciation for husband’s sacrifices
“When I met him, he had a truck. A truck he loved and worked hard for. He traded it in for a family car. I didn’t ask him to. He just did it. It also tells me we are in a new phase of life. This man has been handed NOTHING.”
‘To the kids who TP’d my house last night…THANK YOU. I’m excited to clean up the mess.’: Man has best reaction to neighborhood kids TPing home
“The trees are too bare, the roof has little to no paper, and you left half-rolls sitting on the ground. THIS IS SHODDY TP-ING WORK.”
‘There are storms, but each night he hurries to ask, ‘Mom, will you sleep with me first?’ I give him a squeeze and a kiss, and ask God to comfort us both.’: Mom says ‘I am his security blanket, his calm after the storm’
“Each night, he fits his a-little-bit-bigger body into that same curve of my arm, just like he did years ago. I hear the same breath and feel the same warmth on my skin. And I can tell at this rate we’re going, he and I won’t ever get enough time.”
‘I want to be a girl, Mom! Just make me a girl!’ Getting into the shower, she threw her fists down in anger. I could feel the air suck right out of me.’: Couple throw second gender reveal party for transgender daughter
“I threw open the bathroom door in tears. ‘Our son just asked us to make him a girl.’ My husband looked like a deer caught in headlights as he sat there silently processing what he heard. I knew right then we needed help.”
‘300 plus families passed on a baby boy.’ What would happen to my son? ‘Are you interested in special needs adoption?’: Moms discuss open adoption journeys, ‘We really are a family’
“MOM is in there nursing the baby.’ What? I WAS the mom! I just wanted to know how my son was. I was so angry at her ex-husband for leaving. My trust had been rocked. When Noah’s first birthday was coming up, we decided to meet.”
‘Do you want my boys? We don’t want them anymore.’ They were broken. We were at a crossroad.’: Mom adopts teenage twins, one with brain tumor, ‘We are still here as a family‘
“Tears would well up in Victor’s eyes. ‘Why didn’t she love me?’ Those days were over. ‘Mom? If I’m being admitted, it means I have to stay here, right?’ I said, ‘Then that means I’m staying here too.’ We were going to pick up the pieces.”
‘A guy passed me and asked, ‘Are you okay?’ I was preparing to jump into the cold lake and end everything once and for all.’: Suicide attempt survivor urges ‘the sun will shine again for you’
“My body was shaking. Handful after handful of pills, I could feel myself fading away. I remember the familiar sound of sirens blaring. ‘Lay still!’ I cried and screamed and tried to fight as they held me down. The nurse said, ‘I have to do this if I’m going to save your life and I have every intention of doing just that.’ I was begging to die.”
‘Two kids, that was our plan. I expected a ‘NO WAY!’ But he started talking about it before I did.’: Family adopts after hosting foster child, ‘He was meant to be here’
“Our kids tried to fight back tears. ‘Will we see him again?’ You’d have thought the 3 of them had been brothers since birth. Nothing prepared me to watch him get on a plane, not knowing if we’d ever talk to him again.”
‘Nobody wants a woman with a handicapped child.’ Stories of affairs started. We both chose to hold on tight.’: Single, special needs mom finds true love, ‘He is my best friend’
“My son is 3 year-old trapped in a 20 year-old body. I had to care for him myself. Then Victor came to paint my kitchen. We talked for hours on end. Our able-bodied children disowned us. But Victor wanted to take care of me.”
‘You’re sure they didn’t mix up the vials?’ My healthy husband suddenly looked terrible. He developed a painful cough and couldn’t walk 100 feet.’: Woman births late husband’s son through IVF after leukemia battle
“My husband told the doctors not to resuscitate him. ‘What am I supposed to do without you?’ I remember telling the crew, ‘I am not leaving.’ I promised to hold his hand. ‘I am so proud of you and so grateful to have been your wife.’ His dream was to have children. I still had some of his sperm saved. I knew this would be the last time I saw him awake.”
‘She is my BABY! You can’t take her!’ I felt like I was being choked. We knew we had to do something.’: Mom writes emotional letter to foster baby, ‘I won’t ever forget you’
“’Is your family open to adoption?’ My heart felt so FULL! For that time, you were ‘OURS.’ Then, one day it all came crashing down. It was like a nightmare. ‘By the way, I’m going to come and pick the baby up tomorrow.’”
‘His only worldly belongings were engulfed in flames. I was worried about where I stuffed the karate coupon.’: After encounter with neighbor, woman urges others to share ‘love and grace’
“I was traveling down the street, unaware of the great number of things happening around me. I was still completely wrapped up in myself. He was standing out front. The look of heartbreak and defeat sent my heart deep into my stomach. I knew him but I didn’t know his name.”
‘I’ve been the girl who didn’t fit in. I’m too much for some people and not enough for others. I’ve been the girl who wondered if she’d make it, and the girl who did.’: Mom loves who she is, ‘I won’t change for anyone’
“I’m the girl who is on time for this but late for that, and I’ll probably stop for an overpriced iced coffee on the way. I’m moody in the morning and in my best spirits when I know it’s Friday. I’m too tall for high heels and too short to reach the diapers on the top shelf at Walmart. I’m still not skinny enough to fit inside that crack between the washer and dryer. I’m that girl.”
‘Wedding rings are a symbol of ownership. We don’t wear them. I don’t identify with the word ‘wife.’: Married woman talks terms of marriage, ‘We are in a partnership’
“I am a fully committed feminist, and will kill a bug if I need to. He doesn’t determine my happiness. The husband is the boss, the father gives away the daughter. I don’t identify with any of it.”
‘I think my water broke!’ It was a dark, thick blood, flowing out of me. They worried I’d birth in the helicopter.’: Woman suffers placental abruption in traumatic childbirth, ‘I thank God she’s ok’
“I was bawling my eyes out, thinking, ‘No, no. My baby is gone.’ I could feel panic in the room. There were probably 20 people rushing around, getting me prepped. Half were for me, and half were for the baby when she was born.”
‘His opinions became my own. ‘You need to figure out who you are.’ I was terrified of being alone.’: After toxic relationship, woman turns to yoga, ‘I finally know who I am’
“‘What did I do wrong?’ It took many years to learn about that question. To say I was crushed is an understatement. I was numb. My ex-boyfriend was trying to teach me all along. Be selfish.”
‘It was a birth injury.’ I was furious. Because it was a home birth, he was denied care.’: Woman loses son after being refused care, ‘They let us down in our time of need’
“The doctor refused to come down and treat Sterling. The ER staff weren’t preparing for a newborn. It was horrific. I don’t know that I’ll ever forgive the doctor who denied my son as a patient. I knew we probably wouldn’t be bringing our son home.”
‘Does he smoke or do drugs?’ My 19-year-old son was having heart attacks. He said no, but all she kept asking was, ‘Does he do drugs?’: Mom loses son after hospital malpractice, ‘This is systemic racism’
“‘Can we move forward and find out why his chest hurts?’ I was FURIOUS. When she came back in, the first thing out of her mouth was, ‘Well, your toxicology screens were clear.’ All she saw was a young black man and assumed he was on drugs. No one would help him. One day, while playing basketball with friends, his heart stopped.”
‘I was waiting at a red light when I lost consciousness. I called my Sergeant. ‘I’ve been in an accident. Something isn’t right.’: Officer credits rottweiler for saving her life post-traumatic brain injury
“Against my doctor’s orders, I requested to go back to full duty. I was no longer the same smiling, positive person I once was. I had constant headaches. Everything was foggy, and the world became so loud I was always nauseated. Everything and everyone irritated me, including my husband. When we found out we were expecting, I was filled with fear.”
‘I overheard my dad on the phone. ‘If anything happens to her, I will haunt you for the rest of your life.’ My mother’s brain was leaking.’: Man details coping with grief thanks to StoryWorth
“My mom lived with frequent high fevers. The nurse asked for a diagnosis of what was actually wrong with my mom, and the doctor just said, ‘Fever!’ Medicine then wasn’t what it is today. Her brain was leaking, and no one knew.”
‘Will I ever be good enough for this job? I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. Some days, I fantisize about running away.’: Mom shares candid reality of motherhood, ‘You will conquer today just like every other’
“I doubt the decisions I make for my family. I spend another day cleaning the house, just to watch it be destroyed in 5 minutes. Some days, I don’t want to be the responsible one. I fantasize about running away. And still, my kids are the best thing to ever happen to me.”
‘We met the birth mom. ‘Come to the hospital to greet your daughter.’ Days later, I got an email: ‘Your birth mother has been located.’: Adoptee adopts child from birth mom and foster care, becomes biological mother
“3 weeks after the adoption agency told us ‘it will take years for a child,’ we received the call that changed everything. A brave mama was waiting for us.”
‘You’re meant to have a daughter.’ If I heard I’d have another son, I’d move on. We had a decision to make.’: Family fosters to adopt brother/sister pair, ‘They are ours forever’
“We saw signs everywhere. ‘What if I told you coming home to your boys was only PART of your purpose?’ We knew she was coming. It was a shock, but we were going to move forward.”