Maggie – I’ll never fully heal from having an absent father and being raised by a single mother
I grew up as an only child of a single mother, and as a young kid I never really questioned it. My father had been around briefly when I was born up until age 3. I saw him a few times a year after that, and then not at all from ages 5-11. It seemed so simple to me...
My parents’ divorce had left me with a deep wound. One that affected my marriage, my motherhood, my friendships and my life as an adult
(Originally Published at Born To Do This) “Dad seems sad…Can dads get sad?” I said to myself, bewildered as my four-year-old hand reached desperately for whatever scratch paper and pencil I could find. Like looking for a clean rag to put pressure on a bleeding wound,...
Jeremy- My brother and I were competition for my dad’s affection from his gay lover
My mom and dad married in 1967. Early on, it was clear (according to my mom) that dad was more interested in his music (big piano player) than he was in actually taking care of two little boys. My twin brother and I would be in our cribs, crying (needing to be...
I feel like a sick eugenics experiment gone horribly wrong
I am writing this very stream of conscious because I am so confused and have no place I feel is a safe outlet. My mom is very abusive. She would scream at me until I sobbed then scream at me to stop crying. She’d accuse me of “giving her attitude” and then demand I...
Mum told me when I was a child all about how desperate she was for a baby, and how much I was wanted, and I was special…it doesn’t feel like that
(Originally published at Anonymous Us) I was conceived via AID (artificial insemination donor) as it was called in the late 1960s in England. My father had his prostate removed so he and my mother went down the route of artificial insemination by anonymous donor. Mum...
The one constant in my life no matter what else fell apart…my parents’ marriage…. had crumbled. And within weeks, I was absorbing that my dad… was not my dad
(Originally published at Anonymous Us) I’m 41 & female. When I was 26, my mother told me I was donor conceived.I had just moved with my husband from my home state of Minnesota to Idaho. The reason for the move was that my parents had just divorced, and my mother...
![Corbin – Most of my youth [my mom] was a lesbian. My father decided that he has always been a woman](https://thembeforeus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/pexels-photo-220444-400x250.jpeg)
Corbin – Most of my youth [my mom] was a lesbian. My father decided that he has always been a woman
My parents were allegedly a common law marriage, but the state they lived in didn't recognize common law marriage at the time, so far as I can tell. They were hippies, my father was a drunk and a junkie, my mother left him when I was 2 and my brother 4. My mother...
John – My mother was pictured as ignorant and irresponsible by my stepmother
My parents were separated before I knew what was going on. I remember another woman I didn't know yelling at me about something to do with a baby crawling on the floor. I remember my dad and another woman naked in a sauna that was part of the apartment. Then I...
Tara – The father in my house was not really my dad
My parents married at 18 years of age because of my impending arrival. My mother and I—along with my brother, who came along 15 months later—lived with my maternal grandparents for the first few years of my life. My dad was in the US Air Force and stationed far away,...
Beth – I’ve been told that I don’t matter and other people will be the priority
As I began to write this I wanted to start with who I am. But that is hard for me because, even in my mid-thirties, I am still not very sure. I know what I am not. I know what I am not supposed to be. I know what I want to be. But I am not exactly sure who I am. I was...
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