10 Moms Who Changed the Meaning of Motherhood in 2015

This mother listened to her gut — and ended up saving her child's life.

Julie Fitzgerald first noticed spots on her 2-year-old son's eye but didn't think much of it until she came across a viral story on Facebook that struck a chord. The post described how a white glow that appeared in someone's eye in photos could mean cancer. She immediately snapped a photo of her son with her phone and discovered the white glow. Because of her discovery, doctors were able to diagnose Avery with retinoblastoma just in time and found cancerous tumors covering 75 percent of his eye. She said:

"I just had this gut feeling in my stomach that something was wrong with his eye."

This mother went where few have gone to truly put her daughter's desires first.

Julianna Snow's mother, Michelle Moon, is a neurologist and was instrumental in finding her daughter's diagnosis of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. The 5-year-old little girl has spent much of her young life in the hospital, battling the incurable neurodegenerative illness where even the common cold can be deadly. Michelle decided to ask her daughter what she would like to have happen if she were to get sick again and shared Julianna's emotional response.

Michelle: "Julianna, if you get sick again, do you want to go to the hospital again or stay home?"

Julianna: "Not the hospital."
Michelle: "Even if that means that you will go to heaven if you stay home?"


Julianna: "Yes."

Michelle: "And you know that mommy and daddy won't come with you right away? You'll go by yourself first."

Julianna: "Don't worry. God will take care of me."

This mom created a company to destigmatize hearing aids for children.

Sarah Ivermee, the mother of a child who is deaf in one ear and has hearing loss in the other, could relate when her friend complained that her daughter wouldn't wear her hearing device because of the teasing she'd endure. The creative mother decided to do something to try and eradicate the stigma that these kids face and created hearing aid decals, which featured sports insignias and superheroes as well as flowers, for the kids. Her clever company Lugs now sells these playful additions to hearing aids across the world.

This former military mom captured a viral image of breastfeeding moms to normalize breastfeeding in all environments — even the most masculine one.

Tara Ruby, a former Air Force servicewoman, captured a group of active-duty, breastfeeding military moms nursing their babies after the first-ever nursing room opened at Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX. The groundbreaking photo quickly went viral and brought attention to breastfeeding in public and the shaming that nursing moms endure. In describing her photo, Tara wrote:

I was active duty a long time ago when support for breastfeeding moms wasn't even an option or a consideration. We have come so far. Breastfeeding their babies doesn't make them less of a soldier — I believe it makes them a better one.

This mom boldly got real about Down syndrome for all to hopefully learn something with a powerful Facebook message.

Carolina Boudet, the mother of a baby girl born with Down syndrome, shared a thought-provoking status after she noticed how people reacted to her and her daughter. In an effort to address what is and isn't appropriate to ask parents of children with Down syndrome, Carolina made the status public, making it clear that Down syndrome isn't what Louise IS — it's what she HAS. She wrote:

I know that if one does not experience it, one does not think about it, but words do matter. They can comfort and they can hurt. So just give it a thought . . . Keep in your mind that mothers have a tendency to feel guilty about each and every thing, so a surprising extra chromosome . . . I let you guess.

This mom gave her twin sister the most selfless gift while expanding her family.

Dawn changed the definition of motherhood when she offered to carry a child for her twin sister who was left unable to have children after defeating breast cancer. After the birth of her new son, Allison took to Facebook to thank her sister writing:

We cannot thank you enough for the gift you have given us. Although biologically this child will be made up of the two of us, we certainly hope that the strength, selflessness, and power you have shown are traits that he takes from you during his life. Not many people have the ability to make someone else's dream come true. But you have done so and with extraordinary thoughtfulness, openness, and sensitivity.