“My mom chose to birth me during extreme hardship in her life. I was conceived out of abuse, my biological father passed before I was born. She lived alone, with no family close. Regardless, my mom said to me, ‘As soon as I heard your heartbeat and saw you on the ultrasound, I knew I loved you.’ My mom chose sacrifice when she chose life for me.”
‘How could she be a sacrificial mom? She let her daughter grow up in foster care.’ I felt bad for them’: Birth mom let daughter grow up in foster care, ‘She’s my ideal mother’
‘I’m raising a Dollar Tree princess. She could get expensive. You may think, ‘Uh, heck no.’: Mom insists she’s going to raise budget-conscious kids as long as she possibly can
“Listen, I ain’t fancy. I like my purses from Walmart, my sandwiches from Subway, and my clothes from consignment. It’s a bit brazen, just like spending a dollar on something when you could spend $4 on the same dang thing elsewhere.”
‘Please take down your ghoul. It’s scary and inappropriate.’ An anonymous neighbor sent me a letter.’: Mom urges ‘let kids be kids’ after neighbor complains about Halloween decorations
“I was going through the mail that had accumulated over the last few days when I found a letter typed on white copy paper. ‘I hate to sound like a prude, but there are children that live on this street. Please take down your ghoul. It’s inappropriate. Love your cute pumpkins, though!’ My daughter was so excited about hanging up our Halloween decorations. I honestly didn’t know how to feel.”
‘I heard there was a plane crash. Is he OK?’ I was in a cell phone lot with my children, absolutely frozen.’: Woman tragically loses pilot husband in Indiana plane crash, ‘I am honored to be the wife he chose’
“It was just another flight plan headed to Chicago, where my parents reside. I’d been anxiously awaiting to pick up my husband from this flight. We had finally set aside a weekend kid-free. Our hotel was booked, and it was just US! I parked in the cell phone lot at the airport awaiting his text to ‘pull around’ while the kiddos sat in the backseat. I received a call, but I didn’t answer. As soon as it went to voicemail, I got a text. ‘Andrew isn’t answering his phone.’”
‘Does he own a firearm?’ I told the operator ‘yes.’ They found it hidden, loaded, in my daughter’s toys.’: Woman leaves abusive marriage to set strong example for 3-year-old, ‘My daughter’s smile is worth every struggle’
“What they said next sent chills down my spine. ‘It seems he had it loaded and ready to threaten you in case you came back.’ He was arrested and booked that night. I loved this man, madly. I received a call from my husband in jail. ‘Hello?’ His response, ‘I’ll never forgive you for this. You ruined my life.’ I hung up. I knew I had to pull all my pieces together – if not for me, then for her. My daughter would never get to know this side of me.”
‘Sweetheart, you were dead. Your lips were blue. CPR didn’t bring you back. Please don’t get high again.’: Woman battles heroin addiction alongside her mother, gets clean after surprise pregnancy in jail, ‘My son is a daily reminder to do the right thing’
“The nurse at the jail came in with a serious look on her face. ‘Hunny, when was the last time you had sex?!’ I nonchalantly answered, ‘this morning.’ She then asks me, ‘Well, have you been sexually active a lot lately?!’ My fiancé had just gotten home from jail a month ago. ‘Your pregnancy test is positive.’ I broke down in tears, called my fiancé. ‘This is good Brianna. This is your chance to get clean and do the right thing. I finally get to be a dad, please don’t cry.’”
‘What kind of sick joke is this?!’ My heart dropped. A letter in the mail read, ‘I’m SOOOO happy for you! Hope you enjoy these!’: Woman shattered by maternity company’s insensitive marketing after miscarriage
“It felt like a slap in the face. I’m almost certain you didn’t think this through. You didn’t think about the consequences. And now, you can’t take it back.”
‘You’re not going to believe this.’ ‘Look!’ My husband squeezed my hand to comfort me.’: Woman told she lost her baby, but miraculously didn’t, ‘My baby was still there’
“She tilted her head. ‘What did they say at the hospital?’ They said the baby was gone. She looked at me, looked at my husband, and smiled. She pointed at the flicker on the screen. The slightest light, like a little firefly. ‘That right there, that little flicker is your baby’s heartbeat’. I cried. ‘That baby is a fighter, they are hanging on with everything.'”
‘You know if you’d stop eating all those donuts and Frappuccino’s, you’d stop gaining weight.’: Woman fat-shamed by doctors until learning of PCOS diagnosis, ‘Find a health care provider who listens instead of shaming you’
“I was gaining weight pretty quickly, 20 pounds in a year. I finally go back to the doctor, the one who didn’t listen. The one who was losing my trust. She was not happy to hear I had stopped using the Nuva Ring and again tried to get me to start using it. She also went on to fat shame me. After reading my new weight and asking, ‘What’s going on?,’ she shared with me her solution… No joke, this was from my doctor. It was cruel.”
‘Uh, where’s the wine?’ I ask for club soda. Blank looks. ‘Wine. Immediately!’ They don’t know I’m newly sober.’: Woman gives up alcohol and dissects female drinking culture, ‘it shattered me’
“‘Thank God there’s places like this where we can have lady time,’ a woman in a yellow dress says. ‘I’ll be hungover by dinner,’ says another. When did women drinking become self-care? Another group sips champagne through straws. ‘Girl time! We’ve earned this!’ Driving home, I pass billboard ads for Cinnamon Churros Smirnoff. I learn my yoga studio is now practicing monthly wine events. I feel sick.”
‘Don’t worry, little man. I’ve got you,’ I whispered. His amazing brown eyes locked onto mine.’: Foster dad’s ‘knees hit the pavement, sobbing’ after son returned home, ‘I could still hear him screaming’
“‘Would you be interested in a 15-month-old boy with medical issues?’ I stammered out, ‘H-h-hang on, lemme call Emily!’ A tall man turned around, holding a beautiful little boy. The toddler was completely passed out, wearing a too-small onesies, and smelled like cigarettes. I took him into my arms. The moment his skin touched mine felt like electricity flowing through my entire body.”
‘Oh, it’s just my skin.’ I’d stare in the mirror, worrying how to look as pretty as the other girls.’: Young woman born with vitiligo skin condition develops eating disorder to look as good as her peers, finally learns ‘recovery is worth it’
“‘As soon as someone notices something is wrong, I will stop.’ I was waiting for the attention. Girls would run away from me because they did not want to ‘catch my disease.’ Every day, while throwing away my lunch in school, or doing sit-ups in my bedroom, I started to feel proud. I was 13, and weighed 60 pounds. Your passions cannot be accomplished if you are struggling yourself.”
‘Oh my god, did you see Elena’s ears?! I mean, it’s basically child abuse.’ I left the party uncomfortable.’: Woman defends cultural parenting differences, ‘a mother knows what is best for her child’
“When Elena was 5 months old, my friend Nia brought her to a baby shower. My eyes fell on her cute little ears, pierced with diamond studs! As soon as the door closed behind her, all the girls dived right in. ‘Who does that to a little baby?’ ‘What’s next, a tattoo or something?’ ‘Shouldn’t that be Elena’s decision when she’s older?’ Honestly, I didn’t know what to think. Nia was the only person of color at the party.”
‘You’re going to regret this.’ Getting married at 19 was not trendy. But I’ve never been more sure.’: High school sweethearts marry despite harsh criticism, ‘I grew up and am growing old with my best friend’
“I still pray every time he walks out that door that he’ll walk back in. The sound of Velcro waking me up at 4 a.m. has become my favorite sound. I’m a ‘leo’ wife. I’ve cried to him, ‘It’s hard to send you out that door, to protect people who want to harm you.’ But it’s so much more than an adrenaline rush for him. This man is my strength through the struggles. We’re not just growing old together; we’re growing up together.”
‘It can’t be him. My life can’t go on without him.’ It was 10 days before his return from deployment.’: Marine wife mourns fallen hero fiancé on what would’ve been their wedding day, ‘I will stay strong for you’
“I remember every text I sent him that day, with no reply. I’ll never forget the terrible gut feeling I had when I found out 3 American soldiers had been killed. It was windy and the trees were blowing, as if Ben was giving me a sign. ‘It can’t be him, it’s finally our turn.’ I remember trying to go to sleep that night, but was tossing and turning. And then came the pounding on the door at 1 a.m.”
‘Mom, dad. I’d like you to meet my boyfriend…and my girlfriend.’ ‘WHAT?’ It took some getting used to.’: Polyamorous woman admits to ‘unconventional’ lifestyle, ‘We are happy and that’s what matters’
“Ryan had a confession to make. ‘What could it be?’ I felt a pang in my heart. ‘I have a thing for Rachel. She doesn’t know.’ Once the shock wore off, I had a confession of my own: ‘Me too.’ The rest was history. I know it’s unconventional, but my love is boundless. Why put a fence around it? I’d rather be happy in a throuple, than unhappy in a couple.”
‘No wonder things got so volatile, living with someone like THAT.’ You hear them talk at dinner parties.’: Woman urges ‘it’s not your job to fix an abuser’ after finally deciding ‘humiliation, shame’ was enough
“You had a huge fight with your partner. You wonder if you are being abused, or if it was ‘just a mistake.’ You watch them chat and laugh with your partner at holidays and school functions, and you know they will never believe what happens behind closed doors.”
‘I’m so sorry.’ We’d lost the baby. I felt devastated for our surrogate.’: Gay dad feels ‘shattered’ after losing baby through surrogate miscarriage, insists he’s still ‘incredibly lucky ‘with family of 3
“We were flying back with our baby 5 days after she was born. We boarded early, and passed a number of men wearing hunting gear, whom I thought may have a problem with our family. But as we sat in our seats, wiping down all the surfaces and trying not to freak out, 2 of the guys in hunting gear came up to us and said, ‘Congratulations, you 3 make such a beautiful family.’ It was an important reminder.”
‘How are you?’ a friend emailed. It’s 2 weeks old. I’m parenting young kids, and I suck at being a friend.’: New mom acknowledges parenting has hurt her relationships, ‘this stage doesn’t last forever’
“I stare at a picture of smiling faces. We look happy, relaxed. ‘Remember this day? So much fun!’ she wrote. We were connected then. An unbreakable bond of friendship. Now, we only talk every few months in emails like this, often forgotten by me. I feel guilt wash over me. I’m knee-deep in parenting. I’ve changed.”
‘All done,’ she mustered out, with an approving ‘finally mom’ look. It was the hardest decision.’: Mom of 10-year-old bullied for facial deformities vows to fight back after her death, ‘Sophia was like no one in this world’
“I’ll never forget the moment we were told the news. ‘Sophia’s mouth, hands and feet are severely deformed. She might not survive birth.’ But she did. Her birth was the exact moment our lives changed forever. When they laid her on my chest, a voice in my mind said, ‘Comfort her, you need to comfort her.’ I was in shock as my little girl stared into my eyes. I’d never seen anyone like her.”
‘Yeah. You definitely had a miscarriage.’ These words broke me. I felt guilty.’: Grieving mother encourages others to show their support, ‘She needs to know she’s loved’
“Waiting rooms and doctor’s offices remind me of her – my first baby. It didn’t feel ‘common’. It hurt. Don’t tell her ‘you’ll have another one.’ She’s trying. She needs to know it’s okay to feel.”
‘We need to talk. Your baby’s head is BIG. His fingers look like a starfish.’ WHAT? He passed the Kleenex. I lost it.’: Mom births son with Dwarfism, ‘He was made special on purpose’
“I thought he was joking. ‘Ohhhhh, I was hoping to walk in and see that you two were just very short. Have you ever seen the little people shows on TV?’ What the heck? He was convinced our son was a dwarf. He double checked measurements. He was actually serious! ‘What will our friends think?!’ I couldn’t breathe.”
‘You’ll always have a home with us.’ I’d lived in 12 different homes. This man changed my life.’: Foster teen adopted by coach in college, ‘He walked me down the aisle to give me away’
“I lived in 12 different homes from ages 12 to 18. I had few stable adults in my life. Scott became my track coach my sophomore year. I threw emotional fits. He casually said, ‘I think you can win state.’ Then he paused and took in a deep breath. ‘If you do what I say.’ His devotion to me was unwavering and father-like. Not just as my coach, but as a dad.”
‘I’m a twin, and we’re both going to deliver your twins!’ ‘What?!,’ the mom asked.’: Identical twin nurses help deliver newborn twins in same hospital they were born, ‘It’s always been my dream’
“The elevator going up to labor and delivery was right outside the ER door. I’d see pregnant women walking through the waiting room. It was a constant reminder of where I wanted to be. My second week at work, I happened to see my twin sister in the hall. ‘I’m going to the delivery of twin girls today!’ Later, I was assigned too. I met the mom. ‘Guess what?! I have something to tell you!’”
‘We don’t go to church.’ I get shocked looks, promises of prayer. ‘How will your daughter know right from wrong?!’: Agnostic mom ‘unapologetically’ raising daughter without religion
“I started questioning religion in my adolescence. My parents didn’t think I knew what I REALLY felt. I was just a ‘hormonal teenager.’ Now, I’m a 35-year-old agnostic. I am unapologetically raising my daughter without religion. And boy, you’d be surprised how many people have a serious problem with that.”