With all the talk of women’s reproductive rights this Mother’s Day, my perspective is that without first surviving an abortion, I would have never had the opportunity to become a mother – whether it was through pregnancy, adoption, or kinship care.
It’s no secret that abortion is a defining political issue in 2024. As these conversations, campaigns, and debates ensue, there are realities, voices, and relationships that are often overlooked. While I acknowledge everyone has a complex relationship with someone else in their life, here is my story.
I grew up in a loving home in Iowa, knowing I was adopted, (along with my older sister) to parents who loved me. I would say I had a great childhood. But, at the age of fourteen, I accidentally found out that I survived an abortion, which crumbled the world I thought I knew. I wrestled with not only the typical angst of figuring out who…