FOX News Contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier's New Book Love, Mom Celebrates Motherhood (Exclusive)

It's the season to celebrate moms, and a new book from Nicole Saphier, MD, is poised to do just that.

Love, Mom is a collection of first-person accounts, rich with reflections, lessons and stories about motherhood. Some of the topics covered include blended families, postpartum depression, miscarriage, cancer, adoption and more.

"The profound stories are connected by the common threads of love, sacrifice and the unbreakable bond between mother and child," according to the publisher. It comes out from Broadside Books and FOX News Books on April 16.

"I never thought I would have such emotion and gratitude built into the binding of a singular book," Saphier says. "Creating Love, Mom has been a labor of love and I am overwhelmed with joy that it will soon be in the hands of people across the country. This book is not only for mothers, it is for anyone who has faced the twists and turns that come with life. While I may have taken the road less traveled, the incredible journey created the person I am today and was worth every obstacle put in my way."

Saphier has been a FOX News Channel contributor since 2018 and also works full-time as an associate professor in radiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Cornell Medical College in the New York City area, where she lives with her husband and three sons.

Below, read an exclusive excerpt from Saphier about her own unconventional journey to motherhood.

I had always assumed I would eventually be a mom. As I was growing up, my plan was to become a doctor, marry the man of my dreams, and have children. Pretty straightforward. In truth, that was what happened, but it wasn’t in that order and hardly felt as if it were on my terms most of the time.

I was 17. It was the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. After realizing my period was late, I couldn’t ignore my symptoms any longer. One morning, rather than driving to school, I bought a pregnancy test at the local pharmacy. Actually, I bought five. I didn’t even leave the store; I took a test right there in the pharmacy restroom. Waiting the few minutes for the results was agonizing, and when it came up positive, I convinced myself that it was a false positive. So I took another one and another after that.

After taking all five, I could no longer deny the reality.

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The next few weeks were pretty surreal. The hardest part for me was telling my boyfriend and then my dad; both had very different reactions from my mom. The gravity of the situation paralyzed them both. Neither was able to imagine a way that going through with the pregnancy would afford a good life. They both regret their initial reactions now, but at the time I was a scared 17-year-old and could have used more support.

I don’t know what I expected, but my boyfriend and I broke up, bringing the reality of being a single, pregnant teenager into sharp focus. It was overwhelming.

I kept thinking, “You’re going to spend your senior year of high school pregnant. You’re going to be a statistic, that pregnant teen walking the halls.”

And I was—because after the initial shock, and worry about my future, I made the decision that despite the unknowns, I would have the child and there was no one who could change my mind.

Believe me, many people tried. No matter how much it would change my life, I knew in my heart that a little being was growing inside me and it was my job to protect him.

My son was born in April, and five weeks later, I walked across the stage at graduation to accept my high school diploma. My mom and dad held my newborn in the stands like Rafiki from The Lion King holding up baby Simba for the entire pride to see.

I had come to grips with the reality that it wasn’t in the cards for me to go away for college anymore, away from family and friends. But I was still determined to go straight to full-time university because I knew if I stopped, I might stop for good. I couldn’t lose my momentum.

While studying for my degree in microbiology, genetics proved to be the most difficult course for me. I was exhausted, physically and mentally. After many sleepless nights, I passed the class, and with a couple more years of really hard work, I graduated from college in four years. Once again, my son was there when I received my diploma.

My first day as a medical student in the hospital was also Nick’s first day of first grade. We took a picture together to commemorate the special day that we were experiencing together. A few years later, I graduated from medical school with highest honors. Nick was again by my side at the ceremony. 

Since, I have joined a world-renowned cancer center as a full time physician, become a bestselling author and started my own nutraceutical company. I still can’t help but think of all the tears I shed from believing I wouldn’t be accepted because of my circumstance so long ago. 

Yet here I am.

Even though my oldest son is making his own way now since graduating college himself, he still calls me every day, and I hope that never changes. He has been a constant my entire adult life.

There have been times over the years when I questioned whether I had been a good mom when I was so young and made the right choices for Nick. There were even a few years of his life when it felt as though he hated me. When people say the teenage years are tough, they aren’t kidding. It certainly was for us, but like everyone else, we got through it. He and I grew up together. He saw my strengths and my weaknesses, and he knows I’m not perfect.

So it means the world to me that in just about every Mother’s Day card, he writes, “Mom, you’re perfect to me.”

Excerpted from Love, Mom: Inspiring Stories Celebrating Motherhood by Dr. Nicole Saphier published by FOX News Books and Broadside Books, a division of Harper Collins.

Love, Mom: Inspiring Stories Celebrating Motherhood by Dr. Nicole Saphier is on sale April 16 and available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.