Natty’s Pond: Finding hope and forgiveness after a medically advised abortion

Natty’s Pond is a true first-person account of the abortion of a wanted pregnancy within the context of marriage. This story details the experience of a second trimester surgical abortion that was deemed medically advisable due to poor fetal prognosis. The author shares a tragic story of a medical whirlwind that left no option other than what doctors called the compassionate choice to terminate the life of her unborn son. The consequences that followed this horrific decision were unexpected, grave, and altered the course of the author’s life and health for the next twenty years.

This book is not a message of condemnation. This memoir argues that abortion is life altering and can result in secrecy, silence, shame, and a myriad of symptoms which protract grief and contribute to isolation. These painful consequences can be magnified within the faith community, leaving many mothers and parents of the unborn trying to deal with unanticipated physical symptoms, the emotional and behavioral entanglements of anxiety, depression, and PTSD, as well as very real spiritual roadblocks. Healing is possible when courage meets honesty, forging connection with others, opening the heart to repentance, and to the unmerited grace of the cross. With the unconditional love of an Almighty God abortion survivors can be forgiven, and ultimately CAN forgive themselves. Through the mercy of Christ, twenty years later the author finds herself profoundly changed on the topic of abortion. This story was shared with hopes to help others lead with love and greater compassion toward the countless mothers who lost a child and survived it.