A US mother who became pregnant after being raped when she was 14 years old says she is grateful she chose to trust God and refused to abort her child.
Crystal Blount, who is now a pro-life campaigner, was raped at high school by an older student, and decided to keep her baby when she was travelling to an abortion appointment with her father.
Writing for Life News, Crystal said: “I asked my Dad to stop the car and said I didn’t know what I would do (keep the baby or adoption), but that I would accept the task of carrying the child until she was born — to choose life for her.
Protect
“I felt overcome with a duty to protect this helpless life growing inside me. I had seen her heartbeat. I knew instantly in that car, that it wasn’t her fault, no matter who fathered her”, she said.
Crystal, now 30, chose open adoption for her daughter, and went on to complete high school, gain a degree and get married.
She was able to forgive the man who raped her with the help of prayer and counselling.
Huge burden
She said: “I had a huge burden to carry because of what he did, I endured a lot of grief, and I gave up my only child for adoption after carrying her for nine months”.
Crystal is in touch with her 16-year-old daughter, who “knows she is a gift from God”.
She said, “when I see her smile, I see how good God is and how he took this bad experience and made it beautiful!”
Tiny beating hearts
Crystal explained that she now she feels “a passion to stand up for those tiny beating hearts”, and wants to support the women and girls “who are so often left alone, abandoned, dirty, and feeling like they just can’t do it”.
Fellow pro-life campaigner Rebecca Kiessling said that when she discovered she was conceived through rape, she immediately felt “targeted and devalued” by society.
“Right away, I felt I was in a position where I would have to justify my own existence”, she said.
But she explained: “I’ve since found my own value, identity and purpose in Christ, being created by God, in His image, and for a purpose, so I no longer feel I need to prove my worth to others in order to feel worthy”.