Mother’s Day – Send a card to a birth mom!

I am so excited to welcome Kelsey of From Anotha Motha to the Kindred Blog! She came up with a great idea on how we can support birth moms this Mother’s Day and I am so glad she asked Kindred to partner with her! I would love to see the Kindred community show up and sign up to be a huge part of this initiative to love on birth moms this Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day is such a strange day for me. Two years ago around this time, I was dreading the day. I was due to deliver my son on May 12, and Mother’s Day was May 8. I was hoping and praying that I would not go into labor early. I think I’m the only woman in the history of the world to pray about extending my pregnancy past the due date. The stress of that approaching day would send me into a panic because I knew that I would not be taking my baby home with me. His father had left, and I was living with my parents. I had no money, and I felt I had little to give him. I had picked out a very special family to adopt my baby boy, and I felt confident in this decision. Still, I was terrified of having my motherhood stripped from me on Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day came and went, and by the grace of God, I was still pregnant. On May 17, 2016, I gave birth to a sweet baby boy, and two days later he went home with his mother and father. One year later, I was living in a new city, with a new job, and altogether – a new life. As Mother’s Day approached, I felt the familiar anxiety and in addition, I felt a sinking sadness. I attended church in the morning, and I heard the pastor include every kind of mother in his Mother’s Day greeting… well, except for birth moms. I sat on my balcony planting flowers, listening to the Grateful Dead, and smoking cigarettes one after another. This was my way to pass the time. I checked the clock every half hour, just to make sure the time wasn’t stopping. The day would be over soon, I thought to myself.

Mother’s Day is a hard day for birth mothers, but it’s even harder to get through it when you are alone. This year for Mother’s Day, I know it’s going to be different. I want birth moms to be included, in fact, they absolutely MUST be included, so I had an idea! What if people came together to send birth moms a mother’s day card on Mother’s Day?

I hear people say all the time that we need to ‘reduce the stigma’ of birth moms. To me, this starts with validating our motherhood.  Birth moms are registering to receive a card, and if you send one with extra postage inside, From Anotha Motha will make sure they receive your card. Write a sweet note inside, let her know that she is loved, and she won’t go another Mother’s Day without knowing her worth as a mother.

Here’s how the Kindred community can be involved:

• Feel like your child’s birth mom would love a card? Or are you a birth mom yourself? Sign up to RECEIVE a card here!
• Send a card to a birth mom! All you have to do is write a card with a sweet note inside, put an extra stamp in the envelope and mail it to Kelsey/From Anotha Motha and she will make sure it gets to a birth mom that needs your words of encouragement this Mother’s Day. For more details click here!

So thankful for this community for participating! I will be going live tonight on Kindred’s Instagram to share a little more about my story and this project! See you then!