“I’ve Always Wanted a Daughter” by Margaret Adamek

Given the number of children I had and my age, I pretty much gave up on the idea of ever raising a daughter. God knows best, right? I did LOVE my sons and settled into being a “boy mom”—living with all manner of reptiles, skateboarding mishaps, rough-and-tumble play, jokes about farting…a mother’s dream. 

“We are an Adoption Success Story — and It’s Still Hard” by Maralee Bradley

I’ve invested a lot of time in listening to the voices of adult adoptees and I’m learning there isn’t just one narrative about adoption. The reality is that adoption is complex. It isn’t all happy or sad, all good or bad. It changes day-to-day and with each new phase of life our kids enter. I’ve come to see that while adoption may be 90 percent positive for me and 10 percent hard, the math for my kids isn’t so simple.

“Raising My Siblings with Love and Support” by Sistina

My name is Sistina and growing up was rough. My siblings and I grew up in a home with drug and alcohol abuse and, because my parents were never around, I had to raise my siblings at a very young age. I knew in my heart that I would end up having to care for them when I got older.