Life of the Week: I was pro-choice…until Ava came

I believe being pro-life will give unborn children a chance to grow and mature and fulfill their dreams to their fullest. They deserve to live and have a heartbeat, to feel the emotions of love and of being wanted. Taking away an innocent, helpless miracle is the worst thing one could possibly do.

Being able to feel the butterflies in your stomach when you are just starting to feel your baby kick, being able to see your little one grow from a tiny little ball to seeing the mouth move and the bones form in the baby’s face, being able to finally hold him or her after just giving birth – these are the most incredible feelings you can ever experience.

I am pro-life, but I used to be pro-choice. I once believed that if you did not want to take care of a baby, you didn’t have to.

I thought it was fine to “erase” your mistake and not have to worry about it. I could not have been more wrong. I am a living testimony of being pro-life. I went through a life-changing experience of putting my daughter up for adoption.

You see, I found out I was already two months pregnant on April 7, 2012. I had no emotions when I saw that plus sign on the pregnancy test. There was neither shock nor shame. I was just another seventeen-year-old pregnant girl. My boyfriend Michael and I researched all the possibilities there were to try to figure out what we should do.

Yes, we thought of aborting our child, but there was a feeling in my heart I can’t describe that made me say “no” to abortion. I knew I would not have been able to go through with it. I was the one who got pregnant. I was the one who made the mistake, not my child. I had to take responsibility for my actions, and aborting my little miracle was not taking responsibility; it was getting rid of “it”, taking the easy way out.

Michael and I went to Newlife, whi

ch is an agency that offers open adoption between birth and adoptive parents. We met a very caring social worker named Caitlyn, who helped Michael and I decide if we were going to keep our child or put her up for adoption. She had us write down the pros and cons of both parenting and adopting.

We realized that we were not ready to parent and we didn’t have the finances or the time. We were not going to be able to give our daughter the life she deserved, which is why we made the choice to put her up for adoption. I wanted a family who biologically could not bear children of their own because I wanted to share that special bond with them of having their first child also be our first child.

For nine months I could have changed my mind and decided to be her parent, but I didn’t. We chose the family a mere few days after they sent in their home study. It was fate that my daughter was placed in the arms of such a loving family.

The adoptive family felt so blessed to have been picked by us. I could see the longing in their eyes to be able to hold a child of their own. They had waited three years to be able to finally have a young one on their own and I knew that they were the ones I wanted to have raise my baby.

Giving birth to my daughter and feeling her warmth against my chest and her breath on my skin brought tears to my eyes. I could not believe I even thought of aborting such a precious human. I am so honored to have been able to give a family such an amazing gift. They were so grateful to be able to hold their daughter for the first time, and I was lucky to have been able to give them such a precious gift.

Doing adoption made me realize that babies change a life for the better. Yes, you are judged, some might not support you, and it is the hardest thing you might ever do – but the feeling of giving someone something they cannot have on their own is priceless. I cannot express how much good it does in your life. Your outlook on life changes, and you realize how precious it can be.

It was after I put my child up for adoption that I became pro-life. It is simply not fair to take a baby’s life when you have the opportunity to give your baby to a family who is desperately looking to love a child of their own.

I knew I made the right decision when I got to witness the adoptive mom as she laid her eyes on her daughter for the very first time. She cried tears of love and bliss: for me to be able to know the feeling she went through seeing our daughter touched me in a way that can never compare to anything else. The mom gave me a necklace of our baby’s birthstone so I will forever have a daily reminder of her. Our daughter also has my birthstone so she will always know who I am and have that bond with me.

Ava Elizabeth was born at 5:39 am, on November 29, 2012, to the loving arms of Kyle and Marie. I became pro-life after giving birth to my little miracle. I believe unborn children should have the opportunity to live and experience life. I am a living testimony, and I am proud to share my story.

I will forever believe in life and share it with the whole world, one baby at a time.

Editor’s Note: This summer, we will be providing you with a Life of the Week story every Friday. Our previous Life of the Week articles are here:

• Life of the Week: Coming your way soon

• Life of the Week: Marlena Diedrich and the Acts of Grace Foundation

• Life of the Week: One mom’s hopeful journey from infertility to fulfilled dreams

• Life of the Week: Rapper’s heartbreaking video on regretting abortion has 6+million views

• Life of the Week: From abortion to pro-life speaker

• Life of the Week: Two students bike to save unborn babies

• Life of the Week: Standing for life in Texas

• Life of the Week: Midwife fights against describing children as “monsters”

• Life of the Week: Eli Project gives orphans hope and homes

• Life of the Week: Defying the doctors and the odds with Trisomy 18

• Life of the Week: Noah’s Dad

• Life of the Week: Pro-life artist: “I want to put the message of love before anything else”

• Life of the Week: Are pro-life doctors the wave of the future?

Please come back each Friday to find a new featured Life of the Week!