I’m Olivia, 29, and I’ve been married to my husband, Travis (30), for a few years now. We don’t have kids yet, but we’ve always known we wanted to adopt. It was always a part of our plan. And when my sister-in-law, Alisha, found out she was pregnant, we didn’t hesitate to offer our support.

She just gave birth, and as we were talking about the future, Alisha made it clear she wants us to adopt the baby. I was overwhelmed with emotion; we were excited, nervous, but above all, we wanted to help. The thing is, she asked us to make a promise that took me completely off guard.

Alisha told me the real reason she’s giving up the baby isn’t because the father disappeared, but because she’s terminally ill. She doesn’t expect to live more than a year or two longer.

And then she said something that has been haunting me: she insists that we never tell the baby the truth about her illness or the family history. She said she doesn’t want the child to see her as a “victim.”