Mother’s Day Has Special Meaning For Local Moms

For actress Monnae Michaell, who played the mother of black baseball legend Jackie Robinson in “42,” motherhood was a long journey that finally arrived when she turned 47.

In an interview with the Pasadena Star-News, Michaell, 47, said she always wanted children but could not have them naturally. She even became a doula so she could work with mothers and be around children.

Two years ago, her chance to become a mother came when she turned to the Altadena-based adoption agency Five Acres Family Service. Despite having had to let go of three potential adoptees, she and her husband, Wazir Salaam, finalized the adoption of their 14-month-old son Sai Nonda in March.

Michaell told the Star-News:

“Every day is Mother’s Day to me, I feel like I’m the luckiest person in the whole world . . . I mean one day the guy threw up on me six times and I felt really honored.”

South Pasadena resident Suzy Campeau, 51, also tells the Star-News that the road to motherhood was not an easy one.

After finding out she could not have children biologically, Campeau also turned to adoption with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. After several unsuccessful attempts, Campeau and her husband took in a newborn foster daughter, who later became their adopted daughter, Bella.

"I felt like she was ours from the beginning, but the highlight was just that day we got her, it was like finally all the worry was gone, there is no chance anyone is going to show up and say it has changed," Campeau told the Star-News. "I just felt blessed. I think the best thing is coming home at the end of the day and she comes running saying, 'Mommy.' No matter how rough my day is, that's like, OK, the world is perfect again."

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Are you celebrating Mother’s Day for the first time this year? What has becoming a mother meant to you? Tell us in the comments below.