A Heartbreakingly Beautiful Story of What It Really Means to Be Pro-Life

A Heartbreakingly Beautiful Story of What It Really Means to Be Pro-Life February 22, 2017

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unsplash.com

Being pro-life is a political position, a movement, but at the end of the daily it’s a deeply personal choice for every pregnant mother. For Keri Young, her commitment to being pro-life was put to the test when, at twenty weeks pregnant with her second child, Keri and her husband Royce discovered that their precious baby girl Eva will soon (due date May 7) be born without a portion of her brain and skull due to a condition known as anencephaly.

So what happens then? Keri has just entered into the third trimester of a pregnancy where she is carrying a terminally ill child. The doctors give Eva at best a few days of life, but she will never leave the hospital. She will never blow out the candles of her first birthday cake? How do you respond when the light at the end of the pregnancy tunnel is only darkness?

In a beautifully moving Facebook post, Royce writes that literally within 30 seconds of discovering from the doctor that the life she was carrying inside of her would never truly have life, here was her response:

“If I carry her full term, can we donate her organs?” I remember our doctor putting her hand on Keri’s shoulder and saying, “Oh honey, that’s so brave of you to say.” Like, how nice of you, but come on. Keri meant it. There I was, crestfallen and heartbroken, but I momentarily got lifted out of the moment and just stood in awe of her. I was a spectator to my own life, watching a superhero find her superpowers. In literally the worst moment of her life, finding out her baby was going to die, it took her less than a minute to think of someone else and how her selflessness could help. It’s one of the most powerful things I’ve ever experienced.

Royce and Keri are inspirations to all believers, not just with their commitment to being pro-life, but with their attitudes of joy, hope, and faith in God. On a personal note, my wife and I have lost babies through miscarriage, and I take comfort in knowing that they will be among the many to welcome sweet Eva into heaven in a few months.

(You can also read the news story about them here).


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