Tammy Nelson was stuck in a bad situation. She said her husband was physically abusive to her, but she couldn't leave him as she'd become financially dependent on him.
The couple could barely provide for their son, so when her husband wanted to conceive a second child, Tammy said that she declined. Eventually, she said that he would force her into getting pregnant. Wanting to do better for her second child and feeling "no connection" with him because of the circumstance, she knew she had to find a better life for him.
"You hate yourself a lot for it because you feel like you should have a connection with something that's naturally inside you and that motherly instinct should just kick in and that you would want to be with your kid," Tammy told ABC News. "I felt guilty that I never had that connection."
Tammy decided to go an unusual route to find a family for her second son: Craigslist.
Tracey and Dan Citron had gone to extensive lengths to find a child. They created a website, took out a personal ad, and even created a 1-800 number. That's when they discovered Tammy on Craigslist. It seemed to be a match made in heaven.
Tammy allowed the Citrons to legally adopt her son, Ben. After two years, this allowed Tammy to rebuild. She left her allegedly abusive husband and met a man who treated her well. While it wasn't easy to see the photos on Facebook of Ben being provided with all the things she couldn't give him, she knew her decision was for the best.
"It is hard seeing Ben be able to do stuff that I was never able to afford for my first son, like gymnastics," she said. "I think every parent wants the best they can do for their kid. I'm happy Ben has that, but it also kind of shows my inadequacies with my own son."
During a brief reunion with the Citrons, Tammy told Tracey she was exactly the mother she hoped she would be. The decision Tammy made was not an easy one, but providing her son with a stable home was the best one.
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