“‘I want to build us a van to live in. We can show our kid the world.’ I wish I remembered exactly what he said—I was rage-deaf by that point. It was the moment I knew we weren’t going to raise this baby.”
- Love What Matters
- Image
“‘I want to build us a van to live in. We can show our kid the world.’ I wish I remembered exactly what he said—I was rage-deaf by that point. It was the moment I knew we weren’t going to raise this baby.”
“I was about to get in the shower when the phone rang. Surprised, as it was around 7:45 a.m., I stared at my mother-in-law’s name on the screen. My heart sank. He had left me a few voicemails a few days prior.”
“She ended up getting remarried, and never told her husband about me. When she changed her mind, she met us in secret.”
“’Hear me out, before you say anything.’ Those are the first words I heard. ‘It’s a girl. She’s due next month.’ I could barely speak. Our hearts ached for her, we stood there sobbing because this strong, smart, selfless birth mother’s deepest grief would be our greatest joy. Our daughter’s maternal grandma brought us both close in a warm hug. She whispered, ‘Go get your daughter,’ before she left.”
“I suddenly felt nauseous. I was standing at the kitchen counter – and my next memory is opening my eyes, and I’m lying on something red. I felt shattered glass falling from my face. I ran my hand down my chin, where I felt something snag my finger.”
“I collapsed in the middle of the backyard. My face buried in the grass, which Scott took so much pride in maintaining, everything on me curled up. A single thought floated to my mind. Our kids. And I stood up.”
“The life I imagined crashed before me and fell to pieces. The sadness consumed me like an angry fire I couldn’t put out. I heard the words, ‘She has characteristics of Down syndrome.’ But then, I saw my daughter with her big marble colored eyes and blonde hair. Finally, I embraced it.”
“‘John, you didn’t lie to me,’ she said. ‘What do you mean?,’ I asked. ‘You told me you would never leave.’ ‘I do still love you,’ she responded, and then stopped.”
“It keeps me lying awake at night, tears and stress making my heart race. I’m drowning in medical debt. And I know I’m not alone.”
“My son clung to me like Velcro. I had to peel him off me to grab my purse to order. He screamed, he yelled, he wanted to leave. I know what people think of parents who come in with kids screaming at restaurants.”