Voices for the Voiceless

Growing up, we're told that to be successful, we can't have kids. Our workplaces aren't accessible for mothers, our schools aren't either. Society, in pursuit of progress, has often left mothers in the dust.

At Voices we're building up a generation of world-changers, advocating for better motherhood support!🌎 Women shouldn't have to choose between their dreams and their children, like they so often have been told. But it's going to take all of us. It's time to in our institutions, schools, workplaces, and doctors offices.

Not too long ago, women with children were discriminated against in the pageantry industry. Now we get to see the beauty of mothers showing the world they can do both! Women have the 💪🏼

"Point of view: you’re a working mom in the modeling / pageantry industry with baby on your hip everywhere. 👶🏻" - ✨

"Forever my study buddy 📚

August 2018, he was 4 months old and I was studying for my very first class (Chemistry) vs. August 2022, he is 4 years and 4 months and I am studying for my nursing school exit exam." - ✨

Everything about this is so important. There are so many unknowns when it comes to unexpected pregnancy and so many fears that bubble up to the surface all at once. Simply put—it's overwhelming.

But just because it's overwhelming doesn't mean it's impossible and Kyra is living proof of this. She's living proof that you CAN "break the cycle." You CAN be the best mama for your kiddo even if the timeline isn't what you had planned. Here's just a quick snapshot of Kyra's story:

"Seeing my son playing in our backyard brings me so much joy. When I see him out there playing I think about when I first found out I was pregnant I thought I failed him.

I was only 19, in my second year of college, and working an entry level job. I thought because I wasn’t in a good situation financially I would be repeating the cycle of having to live paycheck to paycheck. Growing up living like that was hard and I knew I never wanted that for my kids. God made a way for me to be able to stay home with my babies while doing what I love. They even have their own rooms and a backyard to play in. I say all this to say don’t be discouraged about the situation you are currently in." - ✨

"Society started referring to moms as superheroes because it was easier to sit back and let us do everything while making it seem like a compliment rather than taking things off our plates, or actually stepping up and helping us.” - Becky Vieira✨

Empowering mothers takes a lot more than just telling them they are super human. Women should never have to walk the journey to motherhood alone. What are you doing to support the mothers in your life?

Here are a few things you could do to support the mothers in your circle:

1️⃣ Offer to babysit while she’s at work or help pay for childcare.

2️⃣ Run errands on her behalf or donate essentials.

3️⃣ For Employers: Hire & provide paid sick leave to hourly workers.

"After three years of connecting with people online, after three years of searching for, and building, our family…we FINALLY got to meet them in person. It was like coming home. It was a weekend where we celebrated, connected, played, and had the safe space to just BE. Where everyone understood. Everyone accepted. No questions asked.

One of the most emotional moments for me was when Ivy was playing on the playground at the lucky fin picnic (800 people from the limb different community were there!) Ivy was playing and a little boy came over and exclaimed, “she has two lucky fins!” and he held up his own lucky fin. He then got down to Ivy’s level, looked her right in the eyes, and said “hi!!” It was so simple. So “normal”. No weird looks, no staring, no questions, no invading her space, no crowding her. Just pure acceptance and excitement and the little “hi!” where he connected with her." - ✨

"Raising the Next Gen of inclusive kids.

An extra chromosome brought these kids together, it brought the three moms of these kids together…
And while it’s the amazing first chapter in our stories together, it’s only just that - the start. These kids are learning in quiet ways what it is to not only embrace differences, but love them deeply. We had an wild afternoon of 6 hours of playing, arguing, swimming, sharing, not sharing, laughter, tears, lunch, snacks, candy, more playing, more tears and so much fun. It was an ordinary summer hang out, with a bunch of extraordinary kids.

The moms were so tired, and so happy. Cheers to meeting friends who become family, and raising kids who are growing into narrative shifters." - ✨

There's a stark difference between advocating for a person with Down syndrome because they can accomplish x, y, and z, and advocating for them because they have inherent value.

We don't get to pick and choose what type of person has value and which does not...PERIOD!💪🏼

“In the 1920s we were told that people with Down syndrome were incapable of learning to speak; in the 1970s, we were told that people with Down syndrome were incapable of learning how to read. OK, so now the rationale for seeing these people as somewhat less than human is their likely comprehension of Woody Allen films. Twenty years from now we’ll be hearing “sure, they get Woody Allen, but only his early comedies–they completely fail to appreciate the breakthrough of Interiors.” Surely you understand my sense that the goalposts are being moved around here in a rather arbitrary fashion.” - Michael Berube✨

Single parenting is not for the faint of heart and it's normal to be afraid of the unknown, especially when making a pregnancy decision. But, sometimes our biggest fears about the single motherhood journey turn out to be myths!💛

Repost: "Mama did it solo 💪🏻⛺️

To all the single mamas out there thinking you can’t take the kids camping, if I can do it, you can do it too! 🙌🏻 " - ✨

If there is anything I'm sure to vote for, it's for better inclusion and protection of those currently living with a disability and for those prenatally diagnosed with a disability🤩 It's pretty simple—we don't value human life based on ability.

Repost:

Hi there!👋🏻 Here's your reminder that motherhood is NOT an obstacle to success. Motherhood is not where your dreams go to die! ⁠
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REPOST:

“I’m not ready to let him go” I said, desperately trying to memorize his features again. For 24 hours I had alternated between giving our family time to hold him - time to know him - and stifling screams for everyone to get out + leave me alone with my son. I sat with him in my arms and traced my finger across his forehead once again.
“You don’t have to yet, you get to choose when we do this.”
This, was turning the button the off.

A few months after he passed I was walking outside, it was hot summer + I hated my shorts and tank top that stretched across my swollen body. I was postpartum but people just assumed I was overweight - there was no stroller in front of my soft belly.

One year later I was about to give birth to the twins, it was the happiest I had felt in many months. At a race to fundraise money for the children’s hospice I wore a T-shirt stretched across my bulging body, it read “Team Lochlan.” A passerby smiled + asked
“oh! Is that Lochlan inside your belly!?”
Afterwards, I stood by a tree and sobbed.

When woodsy was born I wore him easily in a wrap. In a grocery store a clerk ooooohhhhed at his sweetness. “Is he your first?” She asked.
By then, my shield for such questions was thick + high. I smiled back + offered the only truth we could both understand… “he is my last.”

Last week I wore a bathing suit + played with my kids, we splashed + I laughed as woodsy floated on his own for the first time. “You look busy!” another mom shouted across the chaos. In a moment that lasted half a second + half my life, I thought “not busy enough…”

As I sat without him, I wondered what ‘bereaved’ looked like. A word I never thought I would be, was it something I earned over time streaked with tears + anguish? If I googled ‘bereaved’ would a mother bent + frail appear in a photo, would her hands be locked in an embrace that was never returned?

All my versions of being a mother, include being bereaved. Every photo of me through the years is an iteration of how I carry loss, and carry life.

What a confusing + wonderful thing… to be your own lighthouse, in the giant waves of blue." ✨

Motherhood
/ˈməT͟Hərˌho͝od/

1. the state of being a mother.
"she juggles motherhood with a demanding career"

"I am mother
I am tired
I am grateful that they’re mine
I am forgiving
I am loving
I am learning all the time
I am powerful
I am protective
I am everything they need
I will teach them
I will love them
Oh this life was meant for me" - ✨

"When I realized I was pregnant I first told my dad because I was mostly scared of his reaction. He was the only one who supported my choice and supported me emotionally throughout my pregnancy. Everyone else in my family, friends as well, were trying to persuade me to have an abortion. My choice was to keep the baby and be a single mom. Best choice ever...yet the hardest choice I ever made." - Anonymous✨

Even having one person support you on your journey can make a world of difference when faced with a difficult decision.

One of our favorite people rocking some new swag😎 ⁠
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Love the shirt and love the message! It's hard to believe we still need to advocate for the inclusion of those with disabilities but here we are. Keep up the good work, Eli!🙌🏼⁠
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Repost: "my first baby—the one who made me a mama. there’s just too much to say about you. ⁠
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you’ve woken up closer to 5am every day this week excitedly asking if the baby is here.⁠
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you fist bump + headbutt my belly + use my bellybutton as a microphone to talk to your baby brother or sister. ⁠
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you asked me yesterday if the baby had a tongue, a butt, + a pen*s—& then proceeded to inform me that there are actually 5 babies in there.⁠
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you tell me i’m beautiful every single day—usually with your hand on my cheek. ⁠
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you have the most outgoing, tender-hearted, energetic personality + there is nothing I would change about you (even in the moments we butt heads + struggle). ⁠
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you are my greatest gift—forever reminding me that sometimes the BEST things for us are the ones we never planned or expected." - ✨⁠
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Sometimes the best things in life were never planned in the first place. SO GOOD and so true💙⁠
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