Editor’s Note: Recently, Live Action founder and president Lila Rose penned an email in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, where she recounted the story of her own miscarriage in early 2021. A grieving mother wrote back in response, sharing photos of her child. Below are some of the thoughts and feelings shared in the email, which are solely those of the author.
Something in my heart is telling me to respond to this email – number one – to say thank you, thank you, thank you. For eloquently putting words to an experience that so many go through. Number two, because this is so fresh for me…. A few weeks ago, on October 6th, I labored naturally for 4 hours at home and gave birth to our baby, lost to miscarriage at 11.5 weeks pregnant, but baby measured 9.
I’ve been considering emailing Live Action for a while since this traumatic but eye-opening experience happened after following you for some time. If you feel so comfortable to open and see them, I have attached B&W pictures of our sweet 1-inch baby. I believe they’re a testament unto themselves: how a society-deemed “clump of cells” can be a miraculous tiny human with intricately-developed features. Every time I show these pictures of our sweet infant, people are overwhelmingly surprised and say they’ve never seen anything like it before (my OBGYN and medical professionals included).
I had someone say to me just this morning that my story and pictures could be a testimony to something so personal to women all over this country, and even to many who participate in abortion and are either uninformed or simply living in denial.
Photo courtesy of Priscilla J
It angers me to hear that abortion clinics misinform women about so many things: beyond completely denying the sanctity of life, they do not fully prepare their clients for the labor process it will take to expel their child (and yes, miscarriage was true labor with timed contractions for me at least). Also, most women are not prepared for what they will see when the child is born.
My husband and I saw a fully intact amniotic sac, a little bigger than an orange, in which the baby still had its umbilical cord attached. We retrieved and held our baby. I birthed the placenta days later and bled for weeks after. We buried our baby recently and the grief has been unimaginable.
Women who desire abortions are not properly educated about these things by abortion clinics that claim to be “on their side.”
People might try to say my experience was different than the process of an abortion, but as you said your email – whether wanted but miscarried or unwanted and aborted – each child is a HUMAN life that is not ours to take.
… I just wanted to say thank you so much for what you do, and I hope that these pictures of our sweet baby offer a small glimpse of God’s creativity and marvelousness.
