You Carried Me: A Daughter's Memoir

What happens when an abortion survivor finds and forgives her birth mother, who never knew her daughter was alive?

Melissa Ohden is fourteen when she learns that she is the survivor of a botched abortion. In You Carried Me, she details for the first time her search for her biological parents and her own journey from anger and shame to faith and forgiveness.

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa Ohden was fourteen when she learned that she was an abortion survivor. In her memoir, You Carried Me, she describes her decade-long search to find and forgive her biological parents. Her personal story of love and redemption cuts through the debates surrounding a divisive issue to touch our common humanity. Melissa founded the "Abortion Survivors Network" and speaks nationwide. With a master's degree in social work, she has worked in the fields of substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, and child welfare.