“You can’t have this baby. You haven’t even finished high school!” Maricielo’s mother’s voice faltered as she desperately tried to scream the baby out of existence.

The room was silent, as Maricielo hung her head. She was only 16. What was she going to do?

Retreating to her room, her mother’s words hung in her mind: “You need to get an abortion.”

Maybe her mom was right. After all, she didn’t want to be pregnant.

As she began to seriously consider abortion, Maricielo’s father walked into her room and sat down on the bed with her.

So far, he had been silent. But now, from behind his back, he pulled a plastic doll, one of Maricielo’s childhood toys. Handing it to her, he asked, “You want to tear off its legs, its hands? That’s what an abortion is to a baby.”

Sickened by the thought of harming her doll, much less her baby, Maricielo whispered, “But what do I do?”

Her father already knew the answer, and the next day, he took her to speak with their pastor. After praying for them, the pastor directed them to New Life Prenatal Center, where they could get the resources and help they needed.

At the pro-life pregnancy center, Maricielo not only found the resources the pastor promised, but something more—she received the support of someone who had been in her shoes.  

As she spoke with the director of the prenatal center, the director told her that she understood Maricielo’s situation. Maricielo learned how the director had been pressured to abort her child and to her everlasting regret, she did. How, after the abortion, she lived as a shadow of her former self, until the Lord had filled the emptiness and restored her, transforming her pain into purpose.

Her name was Marlen.

Maricielo soaked up the director’s wisdom as she listened her story.

“I remember clearly when [the doctor] did the ultrasound. I was seven weeks pregnant. And the baby’s heartbeat was so strong, so intense. It’s engraved here in my heart and my mind.”

As the story ended, Maricielo was guided into the ultrasound room for a chance to see her own baby. The instant she saw the black and white image of her baby and heard the rhythmic thumping of its heart, she fell in love. The director was right—that heartbeat was engraved in Maricielo’s heart. She knew what she was going to do. She was keeping this baby no matter the cost.

Months passed by, and with the support resources of the prenatal center, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

To this day, years later, she still remembers the moment with joy.

“When he was born, [the doctors] put him on my chest. I said this baby was inside me. He was moving and I started to cry. It was something lovely. A beautiful sensation.”

Immediately, everyone in the family, including her mother, fell in love with her little baby boy. Although their lives were changed forever, they were better for it.

Did you know you can impact pro-life ministries overseas?

By donating to our global pregnancy resource fund, you can help fund pro-life ministries around the world. Our ministries give women the support and resources that they need in order to make the choice for life! Your gift would help to ensure that they can continue this life-saving work.

Can we count on you to help save a life?

49.2% of women reported that they believed the fetus was a human being at the time of the abortion.

99% of abortions occur outside of the US.

97% of pro-life funds are spent inside the US.