The smallest interaction, even from a stranger, can mean more than you realize. Mother's Day is always a tricky one for me. As I imagine it is for any birth mom without children of her own. I always feel like I'm half of a mother. Like I almost don't deserve this holiday.

As we all know, adoption impacts people forever. The journey isn't over after the decision has been made. That's why we love to stay connected with those who have shared their stories with BraveLove over the years, like Miranda.

"I always knew that this would be the start of something so beautiful — so much bigger than myself." - Nicole

23 years, 5 months, 14 days, 19 hours, 57 minutes and 59 seconds ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He was perfect but he wasn’t exactly mine.

"We are anxious/excited to reach out to you to see if maybe you are that baby girl." - Theresa #BraveLove

I was not familiar with adoption. I didn't know of anyone who had been through this process.

For the first time in a long time I wasn't thinking about myself, I chose Abel. With the amount of drug exposure, there was I had only ONE family to choose from.

With adoption as my option, I never considered how open it could be. In fact, my idea of “very open” wasn’t all that open at all. I never dreamed that my adoption would be where it is today.

"Four days that I will never forget. I’ll never forget the pain, both mentally and physically." Keep reading as Shelbi explains there is light at the end of the tunnel.