Happy Endings

Here you can read stories by women who found themselves in crisis due to an unplanned pregnancy. With help and guidance they were able to choose life for their baby and avoid the life shattering consequences of abortion. In some cases they may have walked out of an abortion clinic or the abortion was botched and the baby survived the abortion.

Read: Jean's Story, Gianna's Story, Melissas's Story, Jason's Story, Michael's Story, Angela's Story, Coach Clyde Christensen's Story, Monica's Story, and Anonymous from Niagara.

Choosing More than Average

Ever since I can remember I have been an average girl. Not too tall. Not too short; brown hair that is neither curly nor straight; poor enough eyesight that I wear glasses, but not all the time; good grades, but never the top of a class. Like I said, average. Throughout most of my life I've been okay with this, it was only in high school that it bothered me, and that nagging took me places I never thought I would go. In my second year, according to most, I was still one who blended into the lockers, but to one boy I was a bit above average. Here I will call him "Seth".

We began as most couples do: we hung out around the band room after school, went to his youth group together, sat next to one another on the bus to band events. It was on one of these buses that my life began down the "un-average" path. We were sitting midway back talking about something or other and all of the sudden, I honestly had no idea what was happening, he kissed me. I was shocked. I had no idea what to do. I did nothing for a few seconds then became horribly embarrassed, leaned in, and kissed him. Thus began our relationship: two kisses on a school bus.

Though he was my first boyfriend, from stories I've been told I think it too was pretty average. We were together every possible moment and on the phone most other times. The majority of 'every possible moment' was spent making out in his car. Looking back I am amazed at the amount of time I had available to dedicate to kissing...and to other things. To all of you who have been wondering: yes, it is possible to get pregnant the first time. Having sex was not something I initially desired out of my relationship with Seth, but being un-average certainly was. To him I was far above average and I wanted to remain there. It seems to me that the consequences of striving for this goal have permanently placed me in the category I longed for.

I discovered my new status of "teenage mom" in the bathroom of a high school with my best friend. Up until this point I had been lying to my parents left and right, covering up all the hours Seth and I were spending in his car, with excuses of ice cream, games, movies, traffic, anything that popped into my head. Pregnancy was my wake-up call. When I looked at myself in the glow of the blue plus sign on that white plastic stick I saw a completely different girl than I had a few hours before. I was able to see the reality of where I was-- seventeen, in an abusive relationship, alienated from my friends and family, and pregnant. In light of everything else that was happening in my life, the pregnancy was almost a blessing.

I told my parents right away and my mom immediately made an appointment for me with an OB/GYN. Honestly, the idea of an abortion never entered my mind. I felt stuck in a life that I could no longer control, but I felt obligated to deal with what I had gotten myself into. With this mindset the minute the option of adoption was presented to me I was elated, relieved that I could again dictate what would happen to me. We went to a crisis pregnancy center and looked through profiles of couples wanting to adopt. I settled on a couple that had been married for nine years but were unable to have children. We initially met at a pancake house and I fell in love with them immediately. From that point on I knew that the baby I was carrying was theirs, that I no longer had to worry about raising her, taking care of her, and dealing with all life had left to give me. Once she was born I could go back to being average.

For me signing the adoption papers, going through with everything was really not difficult. Sometimes I look back on everything that happened and wish that I had had more of a reaction, been more emotional. But I knew that my daughter was going to the best place, and I knew that she had saved me from myself. Giving birth to Hope and allowing her to be adopted was one of the best experiences of my life and truly formed me into who I am today: an average girl who is very proud of herself.

-Monica