You Carried Me

Melissa Ohden is fourteen when she learns that she is the survivor of a botched abortion. This discovery sends her life spiraling downward. In this intimate memoir, Melissa details her search for her biological parents and her own journey from anger and shame to faith and forgiveness. It takes a decade-long search for Melissa to locate her birth father. When she writes to extend forgiveness to him, she learns that he has died without answering her burning questions. Melissa then 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.