When I gave birth to my daughter, Lydia, one of the first people I called to tell was Tamara, who adopted two of my older sons from foster care.
Chubs and Little Hector ended up adopted because I was addicted to crack for many years. When Chubs was 2, Children’s Services (ACS) came to my house and took him. I visited him two times. After that, I didn’t go back. I knew … Read More
I felt extremely bad about myself as a parent when I came to prison. As a teenager I had really wanted a son. Once he was finally born, I wasarrested and handed a long sentence. Now, 14 years later, I still regret every day that I am not being the parent that my son needed.
I have a few good memories of my son. When I held him, he would stop crying. … Read More
In July, Nebraska instituted a “safe haven” law that allows parents to leave a child at a hospital without fear of prosecution. The law was intended to allow parents to safely abandon infants they could not take care of, and many states have similar laws. However, the Nebraska law did not specify that it applied only to babies, and in September and October, as many as 25 parents dropped off older children at hospitals, saying … Read More
Translated from Spanish
When I was growing up in Mexico, my mother always paid attention to my education. She worked in a store that we had in the house. If we had a problem in the school, my mother simply closed the store without regard to whether she would lose money and went to the school to talk with our teacher.
My mother never said to us, “I had to close … Read More
As a parent who has had children in foster care, the word “testifying”usually brings to my mind fearful situations where one’s future is in the hands of some powerful person, usually a judge. But when I was asked to testify in front of the United States Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families about my experiences getting help through Parents Anonymous, I was quick to respond with a resounding “Yes!” I wanted to tell … Read More
