What happens when an abortion survivor finds her birth mother, who never knew her daughter was alive? Now in paperback with a new epilogue by Melissa Ohden and her birth mother.

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.

Extensive social media campaign Full use of author social media campaign Giveaway and review campaigns on Goodreads, LibraryThing, and Amazon National publicity campaign

About the Author
Melissa Ohden is founder of the Abortion Survivors Network and an advocate for women, men, and children impacted by abortion.

Reviews
"After learning of her biological mother's unsuccessful attempt to abort her, Melissa Ohden embarks on a decades-long search for answers. Despite the stable love of two adoptive parents, she wrestles with despair and the overwhelming belief that she is unwanted. The harsh ambiguity surrounding her origins haunts her; she knows nothing about the couple that wanted her gone. But as she is pursued by God, Ohden uses her testimony to comfort others, from clients at the domestic violence shelter where she works, for whom betrayal is all too familiar, to other abortion survivors. The wounds of abortion run deep-for victims, siblings, spouses, and even would-be mothers. But ultimately, Ohden shows that Christ can redeem any relationship, no matter what." -Christianity Today
"Very personal and compelling."- LA Review of Books
"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. ... Her 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." -Publishers Weekly
"A memoir of mothers, daughters, adoption, and abortion. . . . Ohden's story is complicated, and she has impressively overcome significant emotional challenges. . . . [Her] perseverance is inspiring."--Kirkus Reviews


Awards
Winner of Christianity Today Book Award, CT Women 2018 and Christianity Today Book Award 2018. Runner-up for Illumination Book Awards, Biography & Memoir 2018.



Book Information
ISBN 9780874862980
Author Melissa Ohden
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint Plough Publishing House
Publisher Plough Publishing House