Steve Jobs Was Glad He Didn’t Become a Victim of Abortion

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 25, 2011   |   12:49PM   |   Washington, DC

A new biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs indicates the businesses visionary was glad he did not become a victim of abortion.

The new quotes from Jobs follow on numerous columns pro-life advocates have written saying that they were glad Jobs was spared from abortion via adoption and wishing other children had been given a similar positive fate.

Biographer Walter Isaacson unveiled more about Steve Jobs’ life in a new book which recounts interviews with family, friends and other people influential in Jobs’ life. The book reveals some of the fear of abandonment that prompted Jobs to ultimately form a strong bond with his sister, author Mona Simpson, but he eventually refused to be reconciled with his biological father despite feeling a sense of loss for not knowing him.

Still, Jobs put everything into perspective when he said his biological parents could have subjected him to an abortion, and explained to Isaacson why he wanted to find his biological mother. When he finally met birth mother Joanne Schieble, she burst into tears as she apologized for placing him for adoption.

“I wanted to meet [her] mostly to see if she was OK and to thank her, because I’m glad I didn’t end up as an abortion,” he said. “She was 23 and she went through a lot to have me.”

“Don’t worry,” Jobs responded.  “I had a great childhood. I turned out OK.”

ABC News provides more background on Jobs’ search for his family:

In the early 1980s, Jobs had hired a detective to look for his birth mother, but found nothing. Until then, he had been hesitant to tell his parents about the search, afraid he would hurt their feelings. But when Clara Jobs died in 1986, he told his adoptive father, Paul Jobs, and began a search in earnest.

Jobs learned the name of his mother — University of Wisconsin graduate student Joanne Schieble — and through her the name of his sister. Mona Simpson was a full biological sibling, born after his mother married his biological father, Syrian academic Abdulfattah “John” Jandali. Jandali left Jobs’ biological mother and daughter when Simpson was 5 and she went on to remarry and divorce.

Jobs eventually arranged a reunion, hoping to tell his mother she had “done the right thing.”

Jobs said he was surprised at how much he and Simpson were alike. “As we got to know each other, we became really good friends and she was my family,” he said. “I don’t know what I’d do without her.”