Travel-mad dad shows off holiday photos from six of the seven wonders of the world
A travel-mad dad proudly shows off his holiday photos – from six of the seven wonders of the world.
Intrepid Imran Fazil, 41, has spent a whopping £9,000 and trekked over 20,000 miles as part of his bid to visit each landmark.
So far, he’s ticked off the Colosseum in Rome, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Petra in Jordan.
The feat is based on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a list of notable structures that were present during 8th century BC and the 5th century AD.
Imran hopes to visit the Taj Mahal in India to complete the challenge, with wife Sehrish, 36, and children Aisha, 12, Maria 11, and Adam, nine.
He said: “I’m looking forward to completing it because they are all iconic places around the world.
“The Taj Mahal is a symbol of love so I felt like because I’ve never taken my wife and kids to the other places, this was the perfect one.
“I am Pakistani so going to the Taj Mahal with my children would be the finishing touch.”
Imran first visited the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, in 2008, which is one of the new wonders of the world.
Bit by the travel bug, he wanted to complete the rest of the challenge and visit the other countries.
As part of his travels, Imran paid a trip to the Great Pyramids in Egypt where the only surviving of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World stands.
Imran, a secondary school ICT and PE teacher, said: “From a young age, I wanted to always travel.
“When I went to Rome in 2008 it had loads of beautiful; places like the Vatican and the Colosseum. Just so much history.
“I found out it was one of the new wonders of the world so it has always been on my list to do the others.”
Imran, of Bradford, West Yorks., says the Machu Picchu in Peru is his favourite place that he’s visited, because it was “memorising.”
He said: “When I went to Peru, it was quite backdated in terms of the cars, technology, and the culture as a whole.
“It was very different to England and other countries.
“Each one of them has its own unique experiences but the Machu Picchu was just memorising.
“I would encourage people to go see these wonderful places.
“With each one, you get to feel the culture and see lots of other travellers from around the world.
“It was very interesting that it is not just me on this journey but everyone around the world.”
Imran has previously visited various other countries including America, Australia, Thailand and Japan.
But after completing the challenge, he hopes to go on holiday to Africa.
Imran said: “I knew I should travel to the seven wonders, so I thought I should go there and continue traveling.
“I’ve not been to the proper parts of Africa, I’ve not explored that area.
“That will be a total different culture compared to what I’ve seen before.
“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
“Traveling to all of these countries has opened my mind up, to be grateful for what I have.”
“I was conned out of £10k by a scammer pretending to be my celebrity crush”
A disabled man says he was conned out of £10k by a scammer posing as his “celebrity crush” – a porn star.
Ben McEvansoneya, 36, started receiving messages on Instagram from someone pretending to be adult actress Nicolette Shea.
He was feeling lonely and suffering from low self-esteem after a recent break up – so “just wanted someone to talk to,” he says.
But things progressed and Ben and the fake Nicolette started talking about starting a serious relationship and building a life together.
The scammer even said they wanted to move to the UK to be with Ben.
A couple months in, ‘Nicolette’ started asking for money – claiming that she needed it for funeral arrangements after her dad’s death.
Ben, who had his right arm and both feet amputated after suffering meningitis and septicemia as a baby, sent the scammer around £200 each month – all from his disability benefits.
He occasionally sent larger one-off sums too and estimates that in the year the “relationship” lasted he was scammed out of £10,000.
Ben eventually started to notice the “red flags” and cut off communications with the scammer.
But despite contacting the police, he says, he hasn’t been able to get his money back.
The real Nicolette is a 37-year-old porn star from California.
Ben said: “I feel humiliated by it now but at the time I thought it was real. I was in a low place and had low self-esteem. I guess I was just naive.
“I was lonely and I wanted someone to talk to. It really was very traumatic because I had to deal with the emotional impacts and the financial impacts.
“I’m disabled and so rely on benefits and the money I was sending meant I was struggling to live properly. I actually had a nervous breakdown.”
Ben says he and ‘Nicolette’ were messaging for around a year.
But whenever he asked for a phone or a video call, she would say no.
And then when he started seeing articles online about scammers he grew suspicious.
Ben said: “I noticed that they would have an excuse every time I asked for a phone call or video call.
“And I actually started coming across articles online about scams. So I just cottoned onto the fact that that was the situation.”
Due to the stress of what happened, Ben moved out of his home in Bradford, West Yorkshire and back to Taunton, Somerset, where he grew up – so he could “start his life again”.
He says he contacted the police about the scam and they launched an investigation – but the scammer couldn’t be found.
“I confronted the scammer but they obviously denied it and then the conversation went dead,” Ben said.
“When I spoke to police, they told me that these scams are happening a lot – particularly romance and celebrity ones.
“These scammers prey on the vulnerable and unfortunately, I was one of those people at the time.
“It’s sad that people take advantage of other people’s good nature.”
Although he is “embarrassed” about what happened, Ben wants to share his story to stop other people falling for similar scams.
He said: “It’s embarrassing but I hope I can help other people become more aware of things like this.
“There are tell-tale signs like refusing to have a video call or asking for money. These are all red flags.
“I just didn’t notice them at the time.”
Mum feeds family of eight for just $12k per year by ‘cooking big’
A mum-of-eight reveals how just spends just $12k-a-year on her food shop – and still cooks dinner for her adult children.
Heather Bell, 53, and her husband, Luke, 51, had tried for a baby for eight years when they adopted their eldest son, David, 24.
The couple decided to help others and gave fostering a go – going on to then adopt Robert, 23, Joshua, 22, Hailey, 22, Brendon, 21, Izzy, 18 and Noah, 17.
They were also lucky enough to naturally conceive, Gideon, 20.
As the family suddenly grew Heather found herself having to learn how to cope with her bigger brood.
As many of her children came with food trauma she had to learn how to cook for them – such as incorporating fast food that they were used to into her meals, as well as offering some vegetables.
The mum still cooks for her family – despite having just four of her kids permanently living at home – and spends $1,000 on her monthly food shop.
Heather, who runs a poultry farm and masonry business, from the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, US, said: “People say ‘why do you feed your kids still?’
“I know they are adults but they are still my kids.
“They all come here for dinner.
“They are very very close.
“I don’t mind cooking for my family – I don’t know how to cook small.
“They all just love coming here – they are definitely taking advantage of it.”
Heather and Luke were devastated when they couldn’t conceive due to Heather’s struggles with endometriosis.
She said: “I was told I wouldn’t be able to have children.”
They adopted David in 1999 and decided to help others – after seeing their friends foster.
Heather said: “We thought ‘we have our child, maybe we can help others’.”
In their first year as foster parents they adopted Joshua.
After getting the paperwork through they found out they were pregnant with Gideon.
Gradually they found themselves adopting some of the children they fostered.
Heather and Luke always kept the “door open” to their children’s biological families and says it has made their family “closer”.
Heather said: “In six years we adopted six kids.
“It was bam bam bam.
“I came from a big family but I never really thought about having a big family myself.”
As their brood grew Heather had to adapt her cooking.
She said: “Our kids – they all had some kind of food issue or trauma.
“I had to change the way I made things.
“Izzy was sensitive to textures.
“I had lots of children throw up at the table as they were not used to it.
“When kids came in my home I didn’t want to set them up for failure.
“I’d make sure they were used to like French fries and hot dogs and incorporate with some vegetables.
“I make a tater tot casserole in a 17 inch dish.
“I had a cabinet where they can have access to snacks.”
Heather was finding she was spending $500 to $700 on her weekly food shops but has now learnt to cut back and goes just once a month.
She now raises her own beef, eggs and preserves her food using techniques such as canning.
Heather said: “I’m learning to be more self-sufficient.
“When I was younger I was tired and exhausted.
“I would go to the grocery store a lot.
“I was doing it overkill.
“Now I have been trying to utilise what we have before I go to the grocery store.
“I go once a month – and spend $1,000 a month if that.”
Despite cutting back on her spending throughout the year Heather doesn’t hold back for Thanksgiving and Christmas – and has no budget.
She gets her children seven small presents and one main one – and she spends an average on £500 on each.
Heather said: “We spend thousands on the holidays.
“I started my list early and in a notepad.
“I listen to my kids and make notes.
“I’ve been shopping for Christmas since July.”
Heather has just got four of her children at home but all of her kids still live close and often pop over for dinner or a baked treat.
The mum has now published her own cookbook – Mama Bell’s Big Family Cooking – to help other big families.
She said: “I’ve never found a cookbook for big families.
“Families like me are sick of quadrupling recipes.”
The cookbook also shares a little about Heather’s family – going in order of who came into their family when and how she adapted her cooking.
Mama Bell’s Big Family Cooking is available to buy from Amazon and Simon & Schuster.
“My friend’s cancer diagnosis saved my life”
A man said his friend’s prostate cancer diagnosis saved his life – after he got checked out and discovered he had it too.
Rupert Crowfoot, 57, discovered he had the disease on December 27, 2023, after speaking to a friend about his prostate cancer diagnosis.
He underwent a successful operation to remove his prostate in February 2024.
But his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels continued to rise – which worried his doctors.
He then had a PET scan and was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer in August 2024 and is about to undergo radiotherapy – to kill cancer.
Rupert, CEO of a physio company, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, said: “If I didn’t have that chat with my friend and go for a check-up – my outcome would have been much worse.
“I am very grateful that I had that conversation with my friend and he shared the information with me.
“I have since had the same conversation with a lot of my friends to share my experience.
“Men need to speak out about their health more – it is the biggest cancer killer for men.”
In October 2023, Rupert was having a conversation with his pal, James, who revealed he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had his prostate removed.
Rupert said: “I had no symptoms whatsoever, my friend who had been living in Australia for 20 years had come to visit.
“He mentioned how he was previously diagnosed with prostate cancer and we got talking about it.
“It was on the back of that, I went to see my GP.”
Rupert had an appointment in October 2023 to have a blood and PSA test.
He also underwent an MRI scan and a biopsy and on December 27, 2023, Rupert was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Rupert said: “I was lucky as I felt like I knew it was coming, my consultant had been clear to say that he didn’t like the look of the results.
“The biopsy confirmed that for sure.
“But it is not something you want to hear.
“It is always a shock and a body blow, you always think it won’t happen to you.”
In February 2024, Rupert had an operation at Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, to remove his prostate.
After the operation, scan results showed that Rupert’s PSA levels had risen and he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer in his spine in August 2024.
Dad of three, Rupert, said: “That was the toughest part if I am really honest.
“That call I took felt like a punch in the stomach because you think the prostate cancer diagnosis is the worst news you can get.
“You feel like you have dealt with it and then you find it has spread somewhere else – that was one of my lowest moments.”
Rupert is about to start radiotherapy, followed by six weeks of salvage radiotherapy – a cancer treatment for men who have had their prostate removed.
He said: “I am trying to remain positive and grateful for everything I can still do.
“I am not at the stage where I have lost my health but, I will get to that point and it will be very hard.
“I am trying to make the most of every day.
“It has certainly dialled things up, I am much more appreciative of life and I notice things a lot more.”
According to Prostate Cancer UK, one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
More than 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year on average.
Amy Rylance, Assistant Director of Health Improvement at Prostate Cancer UK, said: “We’re so sorry to hear about Rupert’s diagnosis of stage 4 prostate cancer, and we’re inspired by the energy with which he is living life with his diagnosis.
“It’s poignant to hear how his diagnosis meant he was able to start a conversation with his friend, who was then able to catch his own prostate cancer early and have lifesaving surgery.
“Rupert’s story illustrates just how important it is to talk about this disease, and who is at risk of it. 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer.
“We know that men over 50 — or over 45 if you’re Black or have a family history of prostate cancer — are all at higher risk of getting the disease.”
Eco-warrior family go litter picking daily – and even rope in their one-year-old
A family go litter-picking daily and start teaching their eco-warrior kids the ropes aged just ONE – so it becomes “a way of life”.
Mike Scotland, 33, began litter-picking in his 20s to help strengthen his mental health after experiencing suicidal thoughts.
The dad-of-three, from Aberdeen, Scotland, began spotting rubbish everywhere he went – so started going out with a grabber and bin bags to clear it up.
The heath and safety advisor eventually launched a local weekly group, Community Clean Up.
Mike began taking son, Lucio, now six, litter-picking when he was just one, and daughter Milania, now four, then followed suit.
Now Mike and his whole family – including partner Nikki Dalton, 34, a health and safety assurance manager, and their youngest daughter, Lexi, 16 months, take their litter-picking equipment out with them wherever they go.
Even little Lexi comes along on her tricycle – and Mike has no doubts she’ll take it up soon too.
Mike estimates they have picked up “thousands” of bin bags worth of waste as a family – and they have no plans to stop.
Mike said: “We pick up litter everywhere we go – when we go to the park, we pick up the rubbish we see before going to play.
“I recently took Lucio to football with Milania and we spotted some rubbish in the car park – we collected it all before Lucio went to play.
“People do thank us but the kids have always done it – they don’t really know why they’re being thanked.
“They know littering is the wrong thing to do and picking it up is the right thing to do.
“They don’t need an incentive or encouragement – it’s just our routine and a way of life for us.”
After struggling with his mental health, Mike found himself by the bank of the River Don in his hometown of Aberdeen in 2019.
He was surrounded by litter – and ready to take his own life – before luckily a well-timed incoming phone call snapped him out of it.
He said: “After that, whenever I’d walk past that area where I’d wanted to end my life, I felt like a dark shadow was haunting me.
“One day, I took three black bags and went down to the riverside and just started picking up litter.”
One day someone on a bike asked him what he was doing and ended up joining in.
The next day, Mike started the Community Clean Up group – and over the next few months, the group gathered weekly to clear the river of rubbish.
It became a passion for Mike – who loved doing his bit for the planet.
When he had children, he was quick to get them on board with it – and they took to it like naturals.
Mike said: “I remember taking my Lucio to the park when he was 18 months old, and he spotted an empty bottle of Lucozade.
“Even then, he went and picked it up and put it in the bin.
“Ever since then, he’s always done litter picking.
“One of the things we used to do as father and son was go out dressed as Batman and ‘fight the litter’.
“It’s a great way to get him outside and teach him about the environment.”
Now, all the family-of-five take their litter-picking equipment wherever they go, so they can step into action any moment.
Mike said he even keeps some of the things he finds on the floor – such as crisp packets from as far back as the 1960s.
He uses it to teach his children the importance of binning your waste – as “the choice you make today could affect someone in 60 years time.”
And he said by raising his children – even his youngest – with such an eco-conscious mindset means litter-picking is natural to them.
He said: “It’s a way of life for us and for them. It’s just our routine.
“Kids know what they’re not supposed to do, but if you tell a kid not to do something, it makes them want to do it – like littering.
“If you educate them on why littering isn’t good for the environment or animals, they understand the bigger picture.”
“I’m running to every station on the London Underground”
Meet the man running to every station on the London Underground – covering nearly 300 miles.
Harry Clough, who lives in Hammersmith, west London, is running the routes of every Tube line in a mammoth challenge for Movember.
He started with the Metropolitan Line (41.1 miles) at the end of October – and aims to finish with the Central Line (46 miles) at the beginning of December.
Harry, 26, is tackling the longer Tube routes on the weekends and the shorter ones before work – meaning he often has to leave home at 4am.
He’s added a bit of fun to the runs by dressing up – wearing a Father Christmas outfit for the Piccadilly Line and a Mario costume for the Hammersmith and City Line.
Harry is tackling the challenge to raise money for the charity Movember, in the hopes of encouraging men to talk about their mental health.
He explained that he has struggled with mental health for most of his life and has always wanted to help others – especially after a friend on his rugby team sadly committed suicide during the pandemic.
Harry said: “I started running properly in 2023 when I set myself a challenge of running 12 half marathons in 12 months.
“Then this year, I set myself another challenge of running 30 half marathons, four marathons, and two ultra marathons – which I finished a couple months ago.
“So I wanted a new challenge. I was speaking to my housemate and we remembered that a friend had previously run the Victoria Line.
“So he just said to me, ‘Why don’t you run all of them?’ And that was that.”
Harry, who works for teen health app Luna, said he’s enjoying the experience so far – even if it’s a lot of hard work.
He said: “It’s been going well. It’s intense though – mainly because I live so far from some of the Tube endpoints so just getting there can take an hour and a half.
“When I started and I did the Metropolitan Line, which is really long, I did think, ‘What have I got myself into?’
“But now I’ve gotten into the swing of things.
“It’s been fun, especially when I’ve dressed up.
“I did get some weird looks in Heathrow Terminal 5 when I was dressed as Father Christmas, though.
“When I was dressed as Mario, I mainly just got comments from kids and builders.”
Discussing why he chose to support Movember, Harry said: “I’ve struggled with mental health my whole life so it’s always been a personal thing for me that I want to help other people.
“Sadly, a friend in my rugby club took his life during Covid, so we’ve all been doing a push to support mental health.
“I think everyone has a connection to mental health and it’s such an impactful charity – so I wanted to support them.”
So far, Harry has completed the Metropolitan, Northern, Hammersmith and City, Victoria, Circle, Piccadilly, and Bakerloo lines.
He has already raised nearly £2,500.
You can donate to his page here: https://movember.com/m/14165262?mc=1
Train mad couple create stunning ‘station’ in their back garden
A train-mad couple has created a stunning ‘station’ in their back garden in tribute to their relatives who worked on the railways.
Richard Cantrell and Katherine Siggins spent around £4,000 adorning storage units and a seating area with pieces celebrating the ‘golden age’ of train travel in Britain.
Retail worker Richard, 51, whose grandad and great-grandad worked on the railways, started the project after buying a model train for Katherine for her birthday.
He went on to collect dozens of replica and original signs, posters and fixtures that would have been placed in local railway stations up until the 1950s and 60s.
Richard chose the since decommissioned London Midland Railway region’s maroon and cream colour scheme as it was the line his ancestors were employed on.
Richard said: “It’s a tribute to the golden age of railways.
“It came from the steam engine I bought Katherine and having a look on social media.
“My grandfather and great-grandfather worked on the Midland railway in Derbyshire.
“I wanted to celebrate their lives, and also, I’m into railway. So I came up with the idea of making a railway station in the garden.”
Richard bought Katherine the model of the 3F Jinty 16440 steam engine for her birthday in April 2022 to sit outside a grey shed he had purchased for £200.
She had ridden on the life-sized locomotive with her parents at the Midland Railway, Butterly, which had led to her love affair with trains.
Housekeeper Katherine, 49, said: “Me and my sister are actually known as the railway children, and we grew up with it.
“I feel like I’ve got steam in my blood, and it was a very big part of growing up.
“I used to ride on the footplate with my dad. Now you have to be 16 because of things that happened… and a valve exploded and I got oil in my hair
“I thought it was great. I wasn’t bothered. I was part of my favourite engine, in a way.”
Richard then kept adding to the arrangement, which sits in the back garden of their two-bed semi-detached property in Leabrooks, Derbys.
And the 10ft by 5ft seating area is now adorned with dozens signs from past and present stations in the beautiful Peak District.
There are also original notices and a fire bucket – which Richard sourced online – that were once used on station platforms.
A model of a blue Midland Pullman train also sits next to their shed, which is loved by their border beagle dog, Jess.
While hanging from the canopy of the impressive pergola is a replica of a clock that is present at the heritage Great Central Railway in Loughborough.
Richard said: “They have exactly the same clock, but much bigger. I looked into clocks at stations, and that design was from the 50s and 60s.”
On the side of the arrangement, the couple – who have five kids between them – have a bin shed where they have placed a ‘miniature ticket office’.
Katherine said their wider family now enjoyed paying visits to their home so they could look at the amazing display.
She added: “They love it, they want to do what we’re doing next.”
Man plays guitar during eight-hour brain operation
A man stayed awake during an eight-hour operation on his brain – and played the guitar.
Colin Miller, 64, strummed chords on his acoustic while going under the knife at King’s College Hospital in London.
He was diagnosed with a life-limiting glioblastoma (GBM) in October 2023 after the left side of his face went into spasm on his way from a holiday in Cyprus.
The amateur musician, who spent four decades working as an IT consultant, had an operation just over a year ago to remove the golf-ball sized tumour on his brain.
When given the option, Mr Miller, from Herne Bay, Kent, decided to stay awake and play guitar throughout the surgery.
He said: “I was given a choice of being awake or asleep for the procedure.
“The doctor questioned how I use motor movements on my left side, and I told him I play the guitar.
“So not to lose mobility in my hand and fingers, they asked me to bring in my guitar and I was woken up part way through my surgery and played different tunes.
“I couldn’t process playing any familiar songs but strummed chords. The whole experience was fascinating.”
Mr Miller has since had chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is now monitored with scans.
It’s only recently that he has been able to return to playing with the Herne Bay Baptist Church band, occasionally singing.
He added: “Speaking and singing are two different skills. My brain takes a while to process during conversations but when I’m singing, I can perform the lyrics well.”
Now, the musician is fundraising to help find a cure for other brain tumour patients on a month-long challenge to raise awareness of the disease.
Mr Miller is over halfway through the 99 Miles in November challenge in aid of Brain Tumour Research – having walked 65 miles so far.
He added: “I’ve always been keen on walking and for this challenge I have a spreadsheet of all my walks so far, and I’m averaging six miles each day.
“I had to give up my driving license, but I can still move my body, and I feel blessed to be able to do so in support of the brain tumour community.
“I’ve been struck with emotion upon reading the stories shared amongst the group on Facebook.
“I truly believe that investing into research will lead us to finding kinder treatments and eventually a cure for this devastating disease.”
Charlie Allsebrook, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Colin’s story is a reminder that brain tumours are indiscriminate; they can affect anyone at any age.
“We’re grateful to Colin for sharing his story including an insight into his diagnosis we often don’t see.
“Colin is generous in both sharing his story and giving his time to walking throughout the whole of November. We’d like to wish him well with his ongoing scans and for the rest of his challenge.”
You can donate here: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Colin1729103220048.
Couple’s anger after blunder lists baby daughter as a boy on birth certificate
A young couple say they fear their newborn daughter will be mistaken as transgender – after the wrong sex was put on her birth certificate.
Proud parents Grace Bingham, 20, and her partner Ewan Murray, 21, were overjoyed when they welcomed little Lilah into the world on October 8.
But when they came to register the birth five weeks later they were shocked to discover she had been listed as male on her birth certificate due to a blunder.
Grace admitted she reviewed the certificate at the time but overlooked the mistake and signed it, attributing her oversight to a lack of sleep as first-time mum.
But they have so far been unable to amend the error on five-week-old Lilah’s records – despite getting in touch with national registration bosses.
Grace, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts., said: “It’s been a nightmare and I’ve not stopped crying since.
“As first-time parents, we were very excited and, admittedly, a bit overwhelmed – especially due to the lack of sleep.
“We focused on ensuring that all the names were spelled correctly and didn’t expect such a professional error to happen.
“At the moment our newborn daughter is a male according to the government. I don’t have a son, I have a daughter.
“This could cause significant issues for our daughter throughout her life, as it would imply she is transgender when she is biologically female.
“If she chooses to identify differently later in life, that is her decision. But at just five weeks old, she cannot make that choice.
“It’s unfair for her birth certificate to say male, which could negatively impact her in various aspects of life, such as school, jobs, and relationships – due to a mistake that is not her fault.
“We feel wronged by the system regarding this error, and the only way to properly address it seems to be by bringing it to parliament’s attention.
“What will happen when she applies for a passport, or a job and gets married?
“We do not feel like we’ve been treated fairly. She’s been failed by the system already and she’s only a few weeks old. I’m devastated.”
The mistake happened when the pair went to register Lilah’s birth at Sutton-in-Ashfield Registration Office in Nottinghamshire last Wednesday (13/11).
Grace and Ewan were informed that in order to rectify the mistake, they would need to pay £99.
Grace said she is concerned even after correcting the error, the birth certificate would still list Lilah as male, with a small note indicating the sex was changed to female.
The couple have since been trying to contact Nottinghamshire Register Offices and the General Register Office to no avail.
They have also got in touch with Ashfield MP Lee Anderson for assistance.
“I was forced to put two kids up for adoption because I can’t afford to raise them”
A single mom has told how she made the heartbreaking decision to put up two of her kids for adoption – because she couldn’t afford to raise them on her own.
“The feeling of giving a child up for adoption is hurt,” Hannah Martin, 32, from Waymart, Pennsylvania, shares.
“It’s traumatic. It’s very heartbreaking, but at the same time, it’s heartwarming because you’re doing the right thing.”
Hannah, now a stay-at-home mom with a 15-year-old son, an eight-year-old daughter, and a six-year-old son, recalls placing a little girl named Adriana up for adoption in 2011.
Then just 19, Hannah says she was “excited but scared” when she found out she was expecting.
“I got pregnant by one of my brother’s friends because we ended up just hooking up, being young and dumb,” says Hannah, noting she was using birth control pills but not a condom.
Although Adriana’s birth was unplanned, the decision to place her for adoption was one that weighed heavily on her heart.
“I kept her for about, I want to say a month and a half, and I couldn’t do it.
“The father refused to help me.
“He said it wasn’t his child.
“He apologized to me and he said he couldn’t do it,” she shares.
“So I said, ‘Okay, I have no choice but to find somebody that wants to have a family.”
She was helped by Maria, a lawyer from Miami, who became a guiding light for her after they met as someone to “vent to and have somebody that genuinely cared.”
“She was like another mother to me, and she helped me through all of this. She got me therapy and whatever I needed to make this okay.
“I just needed somebody to tell me that it was okay that I was doing the right thing by giving this little girl the life that she deserves.”
With the help of Maria, who was working through the state of Florida to place kids in foster care, Hannah signed papers to give Adriana up for adoption.
“It was agonizing, but I felt they were going to a better place,” she says.
Her second adopted child, Tyler, was born in 2013, when Hannah was 21, and she was living in Alabama.
She says she got pregnant again despite using the Depo-Provera shot, but didn’t have an abortion.
“I don’t believe in killing babies,” she says, noting she believed it would be different this time because she was in a relationship with Tyler’s father.
Tyler’s father, initially present, soon proved unable to provide the support she desperately needed.
“I thought that this man was giving me attention, and sleeping with me, so perhaps he loves me, but I was completely wrong,” she admits.
The father’s drug addiction eventually created an insurmountable barrier to raising a family. Hannah says she wasn’t doing drugs.
“I thought that this one was going to work out because the father was actually with me, and I thought he would be all on board about this, but it turns out he’d rather do drugs and party,” she says.
Compounding the situation was her father’s refusal to help.
“My father was unsupportive. I called Maria, crying, telling her I can’t do this. I made another mistake.”
Though heart-wrenching, Maria again came to the rescue. She helped her find a couple who could offer Tyler the life he deserved, at only a few months old.
To this day, Hannah hasn’t heard from either child and doesn’t know if they kept Adriana and Tyler as their names.
“I don’t even think they know about me,” she says, noting she only received one picture of Adriana through Maria.
The emotional toll of placing both of her children for adoption still troubles her.
“It was very hard. I went through a bad part when that happened because I have depression. When sadness and everything hits me, I’m pretty much stuck,” she says.
Despite the grief, Hannah holds onto the belief that she made the right choice for her children.
“If I had to change everything, I would have kept them, but I was struggling, really young, and I didn’t have help. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t know how to get on housing or food stamps or anything that could have helped me and my children at the time.”
Her other three children had a relatively normal childhood.
Joshua, her first son, was born in 2009. Brooke, her other daughter, was born in 2016. Two years later, a third son named Brandon Jr. came along.
Hannah notes Brooke and Brandon Jr.’s father is supportive and she had more means to support Joshua during his childhood because she was working as an assistant manager at McDonald’s.
Now she has gained a deeper understanding of the importance of support and stability for her children, she said.
“I am doing this by myself. I am definitely grateful that I have my children,” she says.
Reflecting on Adriana and Tyler, she expresses her desire to reconnect.
“I’ve tried to look up the people that did adopt them, but there’s no luck there. I just want to see a picture of them. That’s all I wanted,” she says.
“I’m hoping one day and praying that my children will try to come find me,” Hannah states.
“They’re going to have to know the truth one day or another, especially because they’re going to understand.
“If they’re trying to go to the doctors and figure out family history, well, guess what? They’re going to have to come ask me stuff.”
Her message to others considering adoption is clear: “There’s always that what if, and I want to help others understand that there are options beyond abortion, like giving a child to someone who can’t have children of their own. It’s the best gift ever.”
