Editor’s Note: Live Action works to maintain the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Live Action has looked into key elements of Ms. Christie’s testimony and personal story and has found them to be credible.
My name is Spencer. I’m 18 years old, but I guess I’m not a typical 18 year old. I prefer to stay close to home and be with my family. You could say home is my safety net. At home, I can be myself, which is sort of quirky. I’m protective and respectful to the women of my life. I never miss a chance to open a door or offer my coat to my mom or a girlfriend or my sister. Aside from all that, I’m a little socially awkward and get nervous among crowds of people, so I’m not gonna be a pro-life speaker or anything like my mom does. I’m a very anxious teenager, but again, with my family, I can explore the full depth of my personality — it’s that kind of home. So I may not be a typical teenager, but my loved ones accept me for who I am and I really appreciate them. My big passion is computer science. I enjoy building and coding electronics and I’m an app developer. My apps aren’t very popular, but I enjoy making them. That’s a little about me and who I am. I probably get my respect for women from my dad, and I aspire to be the man he is. I especially respect my dad for handling everything with my mom’s rape and resulting pregnancy the way he did. If you ask me, he’s what a real man looks like.
Each of my siblings handled my mom’s attack differently and, considering how close my mom and I are, I took it pretty hard. It just stayed in the back of my mind and I kept imagining myself being in my dad’s position one day and how it would make me feel.
I remember the day my mom came home from what seemed like a long business trip and as soon as I saw her walk through the front door, I knew our family would change forever. She came in with this happy grin on her face. I hadn’t seen that smile in a while — not since before the attack; she had changed, but that minute, we had our bright mom back again.
My littlest brother at the time, Noah, (who’s now 11) ran up to greet her and she took his hand and put it on her stomach. He didn’t know what it meant at the time, but I did. Noah just laid his face on her stomach.
When my mom first told us she was pregnant, a lot of emotion ran through me — excitement, hope, and worry. My mom had a terrible time carrying Noah and we would be taking care of a newborn baby. We were a family of 6 and things around our house could get so busy and wild. But now, my beautiful, sweet, loving baby brother is just a part of that craziness.
It was about a year ago when my mom told me how the big blessing of our family came to be and the real reason we moved out of North Carolina. It was a lot to handle for an already anxious 17 year old, but I accepted it. She explained a lot to me — how people treat children conceived in rape, how people believe abortion would be okay, and I said to my mom, “That’s terrible! The baby didn’t do anything. I can’t imagine our family without him.” This fact doesn’t make me look at my brother differently at all! That’s actually the only thing my brothers and sister and I agree on. Despite how my baby brother was conceived, I love him so much, as do all of my siblings. This kid has been a blessing to our family. I’ve always thought of him as a blessing.
Not only did my little brother steal my heart, but I’m also so proud of my mom for using this tragedy she went through and using her story to save lives and inspire people. My parents are really one of a kind. I love them very much and I will always support my mom for the strong, proud, sweet woman she is.
Abortion makes me sick, so I would also keep and love the baby, but my mom’s rape still impacted me a lot. I can’t imagine the woman I love going through such trauma, but I love the way my dad handled it, and I want to grow up to be like him.
BIO: Spencer is the son of Jennifer Christie. He has three brothers and one sister, and Spencer is not available for pro-life speaking.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published elsewhere and was reprinted here with permission in 2018.
