"Carlos Zaldana," Archana declared with unwavering determination, "you cannot replace a mother. I am the mother of your children. You married me in 2006."

In the year 2009, a devastating accident shook their lives. Carlos had been working on a car, performing a brake job, and he made a critical mistake – he forgot to engage the emergency brake. The car rolled over him, leaving him with severe injuries. Carlos was rushed to Stanford Hospital in East Palo Alto, California, where he fought for his life. At the time, their daughter Alisha had already been born on October 4, 2007, and their son Nirmal had joined the family on November 29, 2008.

During the difficult months of Carlos's recovery, Archana shouldered the weight of their family's responsibilities alone. "Throughout that whole time," she recounted, "I had to do...