How Adoption Saved My Life

On September 22, 1966 a little boy was born in Minnesota. His mother, for reasons unknown, was unable to keep him and left him in the hands of a group of nuns who devoted their work to the care of children without parents.

Unbeknownst to the boy and his mother, there was a young couple in Minnesota who wanted children very badly. This couple was extraordinary. The young woman who grew up wanting to be a nun, discerned herself out of the convent knowing she was meant to be a wife and mother. The young man, who grew up struggling in Chicago, was fresh out of the navy and decided to be a lifelong bachelor… Until he met the young woman at a dance, and everything changed. They were soon married. Four years into their marriage, they learned they were unable to have children naturally.

So this couple, this extraordinary couple, decided to adopt that little boy who was born on September 22, 1966.

That little boy soon grew into a rollie pollie, cheerful chunk of a baby. His adopted parents loved him and gave them everything they had. They even adopted two more babies, and became a family of 5.

One day when that little boy was in middle school, the family moved to Texas. The little boy was not so little anymore, and he loved sports, helping others, going to church and teasing his siblings mercilessly. The boy turned into a teenager, one who loved wrestling, working on cars, carpentry and school. He fell in love with a beautiful girl. He was salutatorian of his graduating class.

But before high school graduation, the boy and the girl found themselves pregnant at the age of 18.

They were terrified. They were young. They were broke. Suddenly, the futures they had been dreaming of for years seemed impossible now. The boy wanted to be a doctor. The girl wanted to be an English teacher. How easy it would have been to abort the pregnancy and move on with their plans, as if it didn’t happen. Their friends would have understood, surely. It would have made things much less complicated for them both.

But they kept the baby.

That baby girl was born on October 8, 1985 to two scared teen parents who gave it all they had. They worked many jobs, went to school, stayed up all night, sacrificed the “typical” college experience, and struggled financially and emotionally. But they sure loved that little girl.

And that little girl grew up and became the person writing this very post.

And because 48 years ago my father’s biological mother chose life, and my father’s adopted parents brought him up to respect life, and my father and mother chose life for me, my daughter will receive life in 17 weeks.

One act of bravery in 1966 by a scared pregnant woman changed everything:

My grandparents’ life.

My father’s life.

My mother’s life.

My life.

My sister’s life.

My brothers’ lives.

My husband’s life.

Our daughter’s life.

One choice saved all of us. 

I am forever in debt to the woman who chose life for my father, and also for my amazing grandparents who adopted him and made our family. And of course, I will always, always, always be in debt to my parents who made the choice to keep my life, despite the struggles they had to endure.

Every time I look at my husband and feel our daughter dancing inside, I am thankful beyond words that there are people who are Pro-Life.

Life should not be something we choose for others. It is a right that everyone – no matter how small they are or how long they will live or if they will suffer – deserves a shot at. Because the truth is, everyone’s life has meaning and the potential to change so much in the world.

Besides, who are we to think we can take away the very gift of life that we ourselves were given?

For those that don’t agree with me – instead of fighting for the “right” to choose, please give your energy to encouraging and raising up those women in crisis pregnancy. Don’t tell them they can back out of it – remind them of how STRONG they are, how CAPABLE they are, of how LOVED they are. Telling a woman she has the right to choose death for her child, is telling her she’s not strong enough to handle it. You’re telling her to throw away her very womanhood – her ability to bring new life into the world.

All of us can change the world, in small ways or big ways. We all deserve a chance.

We all deserve life.