04/21/2025
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As a biological father of two beautiful kids, let me tell you something straight: parenting them has been the hardest, most demanding, and most soul-stretching thing I have ever done in my life. It’s exhausting. It’s emotional. It’ll break you down and build you back up in the same hour. And yet, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Being a parent means wiping tears, sometimes theirs, sometimes your own. It means standing in the fire with them during tantrums, growth spurts, meltdowns, and milestones. It means loving these little humans more than you ever thought you could love anyone. It means losing sleep, sacrificing comfort, and pushing yourself to limits you didn’t know existed… just to make sure they’re safe, loved, and okay.
So I want to say this loud and clear: for anyone who steps up and parents a child that society says “isn’t really yours”, I see you. I respect you. And I admire the hell out of you.
Because I know how hard it is to raise your own biological child, the bond that’s “supposed to come naturally”, and even then it takes everything you’ve got.
So to choose to show up for a child you didn’t bring into this world, and to love them like they are your own? That’s a whole different level of heart.
Parenting isn’t about shared DNA or who the baby looks like. It’s not about who was there at birth, it’s about who stays, through the mess, the chaos, the growing pains, the joy, the fears, the love.
Being a parent isn’t a job, it’s a privilege. A brutal, beautiful, sacred privilege. And to those of you who step into that role, without the titles or the recognition, just because a child needs you? You are what a parent truly is.
Ben Fisher