When my daughter was 18 months old, she was removed from home because my husband and I were using drugs. At our first visit, my husband and I were very anxious. I was scared that my daughter would forget me or feel that I did not want her anymore.
Waiting in the hallway for our baby, we saw a Spanish man holding a little girl. The girl looked like my baby but she had bangs. Could … Read More
art by Terrence Taylor
This story is anonymous at the children’s request.
My son was all excited to start first grade. I hoped his transition from kindergarten would be easy. I worried because in nursery school he’d occasionally shown aggressive behavior. His teacher and school officials said, “He’s 5 years old. He will mature.”
But within a month of switching him from a private school to a class of 28 in our local public school, I … Read More
art by Skylar Kane Kraemer
When I started attending an outpatient drug treatment program in 2001, I had a lot of dreams about using crack. My dreams were so real to me. One night, I saw myself buy crack in an old building and put the piece in a pipe. As I was inhaling, I woke up terrified, holding my breath.
My dreams seemed to continue when I was awake. I started hearing voices that … Read More
Translated from Spanish.
When my daughter, Lydia, 5, came home after two and a half years in foster care, it was so different from having her home only on the weekends. The best part was that we didn’t have to rush spending time together, or deal with having to say goodbye on Sundays. She always used to say, “Mom, I don’t want to go the other house. When am I going to come home … Read More
Illustration by Martell Brown/YC
When I got pregnant in January, 1999, my husband told me I needed to stop smoking crack if I wanted this baby. Four months later, I finally stopped.
I’d had four children before Little Mama, and lost them all to foster care. I was determined to do right by my daughter. Before I went to the hospital to give birth, I even changed my last name so that when the hospital … Read More
