I’m 15 and I’m having a baby. I’m scared, and I don’t want to mess this up. My baby is due May 27. I don’t know yet if I’m going to keep the baby or give the baby up for adoption. I hope I make the right choices…..
Thank you for all you comments! I have made the choice to keep my baby.
Kaya Jones, a former singer for The Pussycat Dolls, said the abortions she had when she was younger still haunt her to this day. Pussycat Dolls singer shares abortion experiences, warns, ‘You will regret it your whole life’
‘I was completely enchained and bonded to the devil,’ the singer said
Jones told Christine Yeargin, host of Students for Life’s “Speak Out” podcast, that she’d had three abortions before she turned her life around and started following Jesus Christ.
She explained how she had her first abortion as a teenager when her birth control medication failed. She recalled how she became pregnant again while in the Pussycat Dolls and was told to “get rid of it.”
Jones described growing up in an “abusive” music industry that left her with little self-esteem and led her to make “poor choices.” She said her third abortion happened after she was raped by an old boyfriend. Even though she wanted to keep the baby, she said she decided to terminate again due to stress and complications.
“After the first one, you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. It’s been normalized and what is a line until you’ve crossed it. You don’t know what a line is. Once you cross that line, it’s a very slippery slope to continue to cross those lines,” she recalled.
But she said her conscience was triggered when she saw two little girls looking up at her during a concert after she had an abortion.
“Nothing on me in that moment said, ‘Caution, this is a lie,'” she recalled. “There was nothing beautiful about me. I was tainted. I was destructive. I was destroyed. I was completely enchained and bonded to the devil, or the enemy, or the realm of death if you will, where I was living in my worst self.”
Jones said she understands the pain and anger some women go through but warned them not to make the same choices she did.
“I’ve gone through it all. I will assure you, you will regret it your whole life. Nothing – even if I become a mother tomorrow and happily married and all is well, I’m still going to regret the three children I did not have,” she said.
Jones said she was compelled by “the Holy Spirit” to share her story about abortion regret.
“It is very painful. There is a lot of anger. There’s a lot of frustration. There’s a lot of lack of knowledge. There’s a lot of regret. And nothing can make that go away but God himself when you lay it at his feet and ask for salvation,” she said.
“What you’re showing men is that you don’t value yourself or your seed or their seed and in return they don’t value us as women because we’re willing to do these things to ourselves and to our children,” she argued.
Jones said she wasn’t trying to take anyone’s rights away, but she wanted to show other women who’ve had abortions that there is healing and forgiveness.
“You can still be a mom, you can still fall in love, you can still be valued. You can leave that at the foot of God,” she said.
“When I was 16, a boy in high school evinced interest in me, so I had sex with him — just once. And after I came out of that room, I thought, Is that all there is to it? My goodness, I’ll never do that again! Then, when I found out I was pregnant, I went to the boy and asked him for help, but he said it wasn’t his baby and he didn’t want any part of it.
I was scared to pieces. Back then, if you had money, there were some girls who got abortions, but I couldn’t deal with that idea. Oh, no. No. I knew there was somebody inside me. So I decided to keep the baby.
My older brother, Bailey, my confidant, told me not to tell my mother or she’d take me out of school. So I hid it the whole time with big blouses! Finally, three weeks before I was due, I left a note on my stepfather’s pillow telling him I was pregnant. He told my mother, and when she came home, she calmly asked me to run her bath.
I’ll never forget what she said: “Now tell me this — do you love the boy?” I said no. “Does he love you?” I said no. “Then there’s no point in ruining three lives. We are going to have our baby!”
What a knockout she was as a mother of teens. Very loving. Very accepting. Not one minute of recrimination. And I never felt any shame.
I’m telling you that the best decision I ever made was keeping that baby! Yes, absolutely. Guy was a delight from the start — so good, so bright, and I can’t imagine my life without him.
At 17 I got a job as a cook and later as a nightclub waitress. I found a room with cooking privileges, because I was a woman with a baby and needed my own place. My mother, who had a 14-room house, looked at me as if I was crazy! She said, “Remember this: You can always come home.” She kept that door open. And every time life kicked me in the belly, I would go home for a few weeks.
I struggled, sure. We lived hand-to-mouth, but it was really heart-to-hand. Guy had love and laughter and a lot of good reading and poetry as a child. Having my son brought out the best in me and enlarged my life. Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today. He was once asked what it was like growing up in Maya Angelou’s shadow, and he said, “I always thought I was in her light.”
Years later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn’t conceive. Isn’t it wonderful that I had a child at 16? Praise God!”
I never thought I would be able to compete in sports after finding out I was pregnant in high school. And now, I am a state champion in 3 events. I am so thankful for my supportive family, friends, and coaches. I wouldn’t be able to do this alone. I thank God every day for my wonderful son. He motivates me to be a better person and keep working hard towards my goals… “‘ For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ Jeremiah 29:11′
Get to know Kathy Barnette
My life’s journey represents all that is good about this country. I grew up on a pig farm in southern Alabama in a one stop-sign town in a restful and rustic corner of the world. I never knew just how impoverished we were until I grew up. When my grandmother would ask me to help her in the garden, I thought she just wanted to spend quality time with me. I never knew it was for our survival. If we ever wanted greens or beans on our plate, it had to come from the effort of our own two hands.
In addition to being raised as what many would consider “disadvantaged,” I’ll add one more stumbling block to success: I’m the by-product of a rape.
Yet despite my beginnings, I was the first in my family to complete college. I spent ten years in the Armed Forces Reserves, where I was accepted into Officer Candidate School. I’ve worked in the financial industry, corporate America, and as an adjunct professor of Corporate Finance. For over four years, I have been a regular featured guest on Fox News. I am the recent author of the book Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain: Being Black and Conservative in America. And now, I am running for US Senate.
My story only takes place in America. I am not standing outside waiting for someone to admit me into the American Dream. I AM THE AMERICAN DREAM.
Though the details of my life’s story may vary somewhat from your story, my challenges closely resemble many who live in Pennsylvania. We have faced formidable odds and we have challenges yet to overcome, but with determination and a clear focus, we have opportunities to overcome them.
Kathy Barnette Candidate for U.S. Senate for the Great State of Pennsylvania
I am 15 and 17 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. I had an abortion over a year ago, and it was the most horrible thing i ever did. When i found out i was pregnant this time. I knew from the beginning i couldn’t abort it, but with pressure from my mom and from my boyfriend, i ended up going to the abortion clinic and because i was so far along it had to be a 2 day procedure, so i went and they inserted seaweed into my cervix to open them, and i had to go back the next day.
at about 12am after screaming and crying and slamming doors, i went to the emergency room to have the taken out. When i got there i was so happy knowing i was making the right decision and that i had to get the seaweed out ASAP to not have any problems, when the doctor finally got into the room he didn’t even touch me. He told me that he couldn’t do it that i needed to go back to the clinic where they put them in at, since it was 2 hours away and my mom already taking me one time i knew she was not going to be ok with taking me there again and then coming back without terminating the pregnancy.
Going home crying feeling like everybody was against me and my baby i decided i had no other choice but to go through with the abortion. I stayed up all night crying and at 8 in the morning my mom had a change of heart knowing how much it was hurting me to do it and she took me to my ob gyn. He took the seaweed out but told me that there was no promises that i would be able to carry my baby full term because of my cervix being open my body could expel the baby.
Well i went in on friday and everything was fine. I just want to be a mom! To tell all girls that if you have any doubts what so all about having an abortion DONT DO IT! i know that my life is going to be a lot different with a baby, but i got myself into this and its my responsibility. I know of the sacrifices im going to have to make not being able to do what other girls are doing and not going to dances or partying. And i know nothing is going to come easy to me. but im willing to deal with that, and you should be to!
Love,
Heidi
Dear Heidi,
What an inspiring story!!! Thanks so much for sharing that with all of us here at StandUpGirl. It is never too late, is it, to turn back and do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do! You are such a brave girl, Heidi. Good for you, for standing your ground and not giving up. Your baby is going to thank you for this some day. You are giving him or her a chance to live!
You are right, it won’t always be easy (it hasn’t been for me, either)…but it is SO worth it!! It really is. I look at my beautiful daughter and am so thankful that we are able to experience life together. I can’t imagine not having her in my life. The world is definitely a better place with her in it!
I had to grow up fast…but that isn’t such a bad thing. I partied less…but that isn’t such a bad thing either, is it?! I really don’t feel like I missed out on anything important.
I am so proud of you…that you had the courage to do what you did. You are strong! Keep on being strong and know that all of us here are behind you…rooting for you…and willing to talk or help out in any way we can.