BIPOC Parenting Series: Christa's Story

As a community-focused company, Kabrita USA strives to be inclusive and to continuously celebrate diversity. In honor of Black History Month, Kabrita USA is featuring a BIPOC Parenting Series, for the entire month of February. The BIPOC Parenting Series centres BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) parents’ experiences. Our goal is to enhance greater representation of BIPOC parents in the media, as well as to amplify BIPOC voices and stories.

Today, we are sharing Christa’s story about her parenting journey from prenatal care to her present-day parenthood challenges.

Christa's Story:

Being a parent has to be the most rewarding experience I have ever been through and being a parent of color adds a very special unique sense of pride. The reward is being chosen to take care and be responsible for not one, two or three precious beings but FOUR precious black children. It is not for the weak.

My parenting journey did not start off easy. All four of our children were born very prematurely and spent months in the hospital; each one a little longer than the one before. The challenges of being a black parent started before they were born. Trying to find the best prenatal care but also weary because sometimes, well most of the time, the best care means not the best for you because of the color of your skin. I changed doctors three times throughout my pregnancies because I was constantly being ignored or felt like my concerns were not valid. There was even a time that if I had not followed my gut and gone to the hospital rather than wait for my doctor to call back that my oldest son and I would not be here now.

Raising three black boys in a world where black boys are viewed as dangerous, inferior and being taken away from their parents is one of the most heart-breaking challenges I am living through. To have to tell my six-year-old he cannot move in a certain way or he has to act in a certain way for no other reason than because he is black adds to that heart ache.

But the support within the black community is like none other. What I find interesting is that I can talk to my grandmother about my concerns and her advice is more than relevant because she has also raised a black boy in the United States. Times have changed a lot but not so much for a black parent dealing with racism and discrimination. And this is where my support comes from. Not only from my grandmother but from other black parents of all different ages and backgrounds because we are not only going through parenthood which is a challenge by itself but also being a parent of color. Black mom support groups are where I find my greatest support.

Kabrita USA BIPOC Parenting Series shares genuine stories written by parents from the BIPOC community. Each story offers a different perspective from their personal parenting experience. To read more stories, please visit our Nourish Blog.