Her Birth Mother Was Raped and Pressured to Have an Abortion, But Something Saved Her Life

National   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Jun 19, 2015   |   9:38AM   |   Washington, DC

Sherry Hensley, a writer for Save the 1,  recently shared her adoption story on her website, The Value of Life. She was placed for adoption after her mom was raped and her family tried to force her to have an illegal abortion.

Thankfully, her birth mother refused abortion because she felt like her daughter was a gift from God. Hensley explained, “When the world tries to make adoption look like a bad thing I want to tell you that adoption is a blessing. My life has been blessed by adoption. I am the adoptee. To give you the short version of the story my birth mother was raped and her aunt wanted her to have an illegal abortion and could have arranged it. She told her aunt no and because of her circumstances she made the selfless decision and placed me for adoption.”

Unfortunately, as Hensley alludes to, adoption is not as popular as one might think because of social stigmas and the legalization of abortion in 1973. There are many people that believe a child who is adopted cannot be loved as much as a biological child, so they choose abortion. In fact, since 1973, adoption has decreased dramatically in the United States.

As LifeNews previously reported, between 1989 and 1995, 1.7 percent of children born to never-married white women were placed for adoption, compared to 19.3 percent before 1973. Additionally, among never-married black women, adoption rates have ranged from .2 percent to 1.5 percent.

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It’s clear that many women have chosen abortion over adoption because they believe adoption can be a damaging option for their family. However, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Services, 85% of children who are adopted are in excellent or very good health, the same as the general population. And 81% of adoptive parents described their relationships with their children as very warm and close.

Hensley confirms these statistics in her real-life story. She said, “Adoption is a very loving option. Adoption is not rejection, but it is giving the gift of family to a child who needs a family. When a birthmother chooses adoption for her baby, she is putting herself last and putting the needs of her baby before hers. She is making a selfless decision. When my birthmother chose adoption for me, her only request was that I be placed in a strong Christian home.”

Even though Hensley was placed in a “closed” adoption, which means that the record of  her biological parents were kept sealed, she was able to reconnect with her birth mother and find out that she too adopted a child later in life. Ultimately, adoption is something that is crucial to the pro-life cause because there will always be circumstances where birth parents, for whatever reason, are unable to raise their children. But this doesn’t mean they are “unwanted” or that their biological parents didn’t love them.

Hensley summed up her views on adoption like this, “When I talk about adoption, I always say that adoption saves lives.  I am grateful for the home that I was raised in. I had a normal life and truthfully to me being the adoptee it didn’t feel any different.  The reason it didn’t feel different is because my adopted family will always be my family.  Adoption truly is a blessing, and it is also the blessing of life!”

sherrihensley