*Name changed to protect client confidentiality. Photos used are of actual clients but not necessarily the client(s) in the story.
Maya’s Story
Maya was in an abusive relationship for eight years. They had been high school sweethearts, both raised in Christian homes. One day he took advantage of her and left her feeling violated and completely alone.
“No one believed me when I told them what he did,” Maya says.
She panicked. She broke up with her boyfriend rather than tell him what had happened, and she immediately took Plan B. It didn’t work.
“My dad was a pastor, and I knew how he and my mom felt about abortion, so I kept the pregnancy from them,” she says. “I felt impure, dirty, unwanted, and unworthy. I didn’t want children.”
Alone and afraid, Maya made an abortion appointment. She went, listened, and left. “I couldn’t do it and I needed to think about it more,” she says.
A month later, she made another appointment without telling anyone. She left again.
By the third appointment, the doctor stopped her. “Obviously you don’t want to do this. I’ve done this for years and I constantly hear women tell me they regret it for the rest of their life.” That was the moment Maya reached out to Life Network, took a pregnancy test, and had her first counseling session.
“I received an ultrasound at four months pregnant. When I heard the heartbeat, I knew I had to choose life,” she says. “The ultrasound makes it real. It’s not a parasite. It’s a human being growing inside you. This baby is an innocent life.”
Life Network offered her clothes, counseling, and practical help. The counselor she met there didn’t soften the road ahead. “She told me, ‘This won’t be easy, but you won’t regret it.’”
At six months, Maya began to show and told her parents. Her mother’s response was threatening and cruel. Her brother took her ex’s side. Her friends pulled away. “I started wearing an engagement ring just to get people to stop judging me,” she says.
“Through it all, the pregnancy center kept checking in with me. They provided food when I was couch surfing and living out of my car. The women at the center were incredible.”
God showed up in unexpected places. Maya’s doctor was a Christian who witnessed her ex hitting her in the office one day and immediately removed him and barred him from returning. At the hospital, her ex and her mother had a physical altercation in the waiting room. Staff escorted them out.
Maya told the nurse she didn’t want to see her baby — that it would be easier if they just took her away. But when her daughter was placed on her chest, everything shifted. She knew, immediately, that she was going to be this little girl’s mother.
Her ex left them both at the hospital and eventually left town. Maya named her daughter “Rachel” with the middle name Victorious. Today, Rachel Victorious is 12 years old.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but it was the best choice,” Maya says.
“You’re stronger than you think you are. You can and will be able to raise your child. It might feel impossible, but you are capable of doing it.”
Because of your support, Maya saw her daughter’s beating heart and chose life. Because of you, Selah Victorious is 12 years old and confidently walking into her future. Your generosity holds an impact that will go on for decades.
Learn more about Legacy Giving and how you can change future generations.