You Carried Me
A Daughter’s Memoir
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4.9 • 49 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
What happens when an abortion survivor finds her birth mother, who never knew her daughter was alive?
Winner, 2018 Christianity Today Book Award, CT Women
Silver Medal Winner, 2018 Illumination Book Awards, Biography & Memoir
Melissa Ohden is fourteen when she learns she is the survivor of a botched abortion. In this intimate memoir she details for the first time her search for her biological parents, and her own journey from anger and shame to faith and empowerment.
After a decade-long search Melissa finally locates her birth father and writes to extend forgiveness, only to learn that he has died without answering her burning questions. Melissa becomes a mother herself in the very hospital where she was aborted. This experience transforms her attitude toward women who have had abortions, as does the miscarriage of her only son and the birth of a second daughter with complex health issues. But could anything prepare her for the day she finally meets her birth mother and hears her side of their story?
This intensely personal story of love and redemption illumines the powerful bond between mother and child that can overcome all odds.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ohden's straightforward and courageous memoir revolves around her efforts to find her birth parents and understand her identity after discovering at age 14 that she survived a late-term abortion. She was raised in a loving, religious, and economically pinched family in rural and small-town Iowa, and her faith and love of family inform her reactions to her situation and journey. She explores her political activism, which grew organically but was helped along by the negative reaction she received in college and beyond to her story and her pro-life feminism. Occasionally she jumps to conclusions that seem to validate her political beliefs, and at times she takes an extreme position, but her writing generally offers a stridency formed from deep conviction. Readers of all stripes will feel compassion for the circumstances of her birth, her embarrassment and shame, and her self-harming behaviors. Her biological parents' tragic narrative and her own miscarriage are among the book's most poignant moments; others who have miscarried will recognize her reactions. Equally touching are the relationships she forges with the biological relatives who weren't involved in her birth mother's decision to attempt to end her pregnancy. Ohden's beautifully open book is unlikely to change minds on either side of the abortion debate, but it does personalize that debate in a unique way.
Customer Reviews
It caught my attention
From the sample that I read it was amazing I cried and was overjoyed at the same time. This book I can tell is very well written. I felt so much emotion it hit me very hard and it really pulled my attention I felt like I could imagine her as a baby in the NICU and as I actually saw her growing up. I can not wait to read the rest of this.❤️😩❤️👌🏽 Amazing job
Wow.
I started this book today and couldn't put it down. My cousin is friends with Melissa so I've heard bits and pieces of her story over the years. This story is absolutely incredible. I'm so proud of Melissa and all she has overcome and accomplished. I'm actually from Storm Lake and spent many summers rollerblading along side the lake. I wonder if we ever crossed paths. Would have been an honor. God's timing is perfect
Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave
Melissa Ohden’s story is tragic only in the sense that she was intended to be aborted and that she had to struggle through the heartbreak of that intent. In every other way, her story soars as a living testimony to the majesty and glory of the Almighty God. God’s plan so far has included her surviving a saline abortion without any physical effects, He had her taken to the NICU by a sympathetic nurse rather than cast aside as trash, He provided her with an incredibly loving Christian family to adopt her, and He helped her to achieve her dream of reunification with a portion of her birth family. Most importantly, He has helped her to use her story to help other abortion survivors, those finding themselves in a crisis pregnancy, and those men and women who are suffering from the guilt, shame, and loss due to their decision to have an abortion.
If you survived an abortion… you will be able to share in another’s unique experience and find a supportive network of other survivors here.
If you are considering an abortion… you will find love and supportive options other than abortion here.
If you have had an abortion… you will find love and understanding here.
Forgiveness is something that we all wish to receive when we hurt others and yet is often difficult to give to those who have hurt us. A personal relationship with God provides the greatest hope of extending forgiveness to others and a guarantee of forgiveness from Him.
Melissa said…
“Mahatma Gandhi once said ‘Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.’ But I think the truly brave are those who ask for forgiveness.”
(Melissa Ohden, You Carried Me, page 112)
Please pick up a copy of Melissa’s story and learn of how she entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ and learned how to extend forgiveness. Be inspired by her story. Share God’s work in her life with someone that you know affected by abortion.
Soli Deo Gloria
I received a hardback review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review from FrontGate Media.
For all of my reviews visit my blog at www (dot) blessedandbewildered (dot) com