In the latest in our ‘Choose Life’ series we hear from Gary who was conceived through the violent rape of his 17-year-old mother.
Gary, a church outreach pastor, speaks passionately of his deep joy in life and his gratitude to his mother for not giving in to pressure to abort him.
“It was always one of those pillars of life where I knew that she loved me no matter what.”
Family pressure
Gary Moore would not be alive today if his mum hadn’t chosen to continue with her pregnancy in the face of severe family pressure to abort.
His grandparents did not want her to have the baby. “She was told quite plainly to have me aborted,” said Gary. His mother refused, and was told to leave the family home.
Moving away was a decision that he recognises “must have been incredibly tough for her when the other option was to have me aborted and stay at home”.
Cherished
He recalls the moment when his mother told him of how he was conceived as “like a blow to the jaw”.
But “the overall impression I always had from her was that I was loved and cherished” he continued.
Looking back on his life he said “I have lived such a fulfilled life, coming from what some people would class as very poor beginnings.
Incredible love
“It seems to me that God’s been saving my life even before I was born.”
Although Gary knows his mum would look at him and see her rapist, he said that just speaks of his mum’s “incredible love”.
She could “see somebody who had hurt her so badly” but “still loved me for me”.
In a final message to women who may find themselves in the same position as his mother he simply says: “give that little child the gift of life, because it’s worth it.”