Growing up, Stephanie was the oldest of 6, an athlete, and a cheerleader. It was a crushing blow to her and her family when she discovered she was pregnant at age 15. Very few people knew this detail of her life. But as her family began to expand over time, she reveals how telling her story has allowed her to find the adoption support she had been missing.

"I had to let them go so that we could all live." - Aimee, birth mom, #BraveLove

In Texas a birth mother must wait 48 hours before she can legally place her child for adoption. Our friends at The Archibald Project documented a hopeful adoptive family AND a brave birth mother during those 48 hours. These 48 hours may change how you view adoption.

But these stories don’t make media headlines day after day after day, and even if they did, the news couldn’t do it justice in a 60 second bit. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be able to do it justice in the hours it's going to take me to write this.

I remember when I first found out I was pregnant, I was only 18 and so scared. I thought about my options and I knew adoption was one of them. A few months before I found out I was pregnant, a lady from my church shared how she adopted a baby boy and her story touched my heart.

"How do you put a word to what a mom does when she places her child for adoption?" Carmen recalls the drama, joy, sorrow, peace, and the reasons why she decided to place her son for adoption.

Before my adoption, I didn’t really have any thoughts or opinions on adoption. At least none that I felt particularly strongly about, that I can remember. I knew it was something people did for various reasons, but it had never affected me directly so I had never put too much thought into it. I do remember that my sisters used to tease me that I was adopted and that never made me feel good. It was not something that I wanted to be true.

"I was not prepared to be a mother, and I wanted so much more for her." - Haven, a birth mom #BraveLove

Is it hard? Yes. Some days it still is. But I know that if I would have parented her things would have been even harder on my girls and that this is giving the baby her best chance.

So a few months after I turned 18 I gave birth to a baby girl. While I was pregnant, I didn't know much. But the one thing I knew was that I didn't want my daughter to feel like a burden just as I felt most of my life.