Each year on Mother’s Day, Sara Bible thanks God for the two mothers who dearly love her. One mother gave her the gift of life. The other mother gave her the gift of home.
In December 1990, Sara’s birth mother, Kay*, had just completed her first semester of college. The 18-year-old Christian woman had exciting future goals, dreaming that one day she might attend law school. But before her second semester began, Kay’s life abruptly changed. Two men who were unknown to Kay attacked and raped her. She survived but weeks later discovered she was pregnant as a result of the rape.
Confused and afraid, the teenager hid her pregnancy for seven months. When she finally told her family, they surrounded her with support and took her for her first prenatal appointment.
Two months later, on Sept. 25, 1991, Kay gave birth to a healthy, 6-pound girl. She held her beautiful daughter tightly in her arms, whispered her deepest love, and then tearfully said goodbye.
The Adoption Decision
Kay had prayed about what to do when she discovered she was pregnant. She chose to give her baby life, rejecting abortion in an era when many babies conceived in rape were never given a chance to live.
Before the delivery, Kay contacted Lifeline Children’s Services, a Christian adoption organization based in Birmingham, Alabama. Through that process, she chose her baby’s adoptive parents: Keith and Linda Bible, a Christian couple who desperately wanted a child but had been unable to conceive.
The Gift of a Christian Home
Keith and Linda named the baby “Sara.” She grew up in church, giving her heart to Christ as an 8-year-old. From the beginning, the couple told Sara they had adopted her. Other adopted children lived in her community and attended her church, making it easier for Sara to understand and appreciate her special circumstances. But, at that time, Keith and Linda chose not to reveal the trauma of her conception.
The Discovery
After high school, Sara attended Judson College in Marion, Alabama. She kept her walk with Christ strong, joining and faithfully attending an area church. During her sophomore year, Sara decided to search for her birth mother. Her parents supported her decision, but felt they needed to tell Sara about her conception.
“I was shocked,” Sara said. “Everything changed for me after I learned about my birth mother’s rape.” For a long time, Sara grappled with that discovery, hating the horrible ordeal her mother endured, and praying and asking God hard questions.
“I became aware that I shouldn’t be alive. In the 1990s, as it still is today, pregnancy by rape too often meant abortion—a death sentence—even among many churchgoers and pro-life people.”
Consequently, “I felt guilty for being allowed to live when so many other children had faced death by abortion when conceived by rape.”
After much prayer and spiritual wrestling, Sara came to appreciate her birth mother even more, realizing the deep love she demonstrated for Sara by giving her the gift of life.
In Sara’s search for her birth mother, she also worked with Lifeline. Alabama’s closed adoption law meant Sara’s birth mother must agree to Sara’s requests to find and meet her. For unknown personal reasons, Kay declined Sara’s request.
“When she refused,” Sara recalls, “I felt a sense of rejection and hurt. But later, I came to accept and be OK with it. My birth mother had given all the Lord had asked her to give. I allowed that door to remain closed.”
Sara: The Storyteller
Sara graduated with a B.A. in religious studies from Judson and a graduate certificate in age group discipleship. Since then, she has dedicated her life to ministry, teaching God’s Word and telling her story.
“I’m alive today because my birth mother chose life,” Sara says, echoing a message she gives at every opportunity. “She had the legal right to choose her own comfort and ease over mine. But she chose life. I’m living proof that abortion is not the only option to a tragic conception. Life is good, even when it comes from the darkest situation.”
The Gift of Two Loving Mothers
On this Mother’s Day, Sara has a message for the birth mother she’s never met. “You have given me the greatest gift I have ever received short of salvation in Jesus Christ. I love you, and I cannot wait until that day in eternity when I can hug your neck and tell you ‘thank you’ for saying yes to my life.”
Sara would also tell her that she chose a really good family to be her forever family, a faithful family who loves her and loves Christ.
And on this Mother’s Day, Sara has a message for Linda, her adoptive mother. “Mama, thank you for all the love and support you’ve given me from the very beginning till now. You and Daddy are my biggest cheerleaders and my strongest supporters. You have given me the gift of a loving home and the strong roots of faith that have allowed me to grow deeply rooted in Christ.”
To Pregnant Teens: Choose Life
When Sara talks with teens who are pregnant, she tells them: “You’ll never regret giving your child life. But you will eventually regret not giving your child life. Even if you can’t see it right now because of your difficult circumstances, the Lord has a purpose for creating this precious life within you. Choose life.” ©2024 Denise George
*Name changed to protect privacy.
Visit SaraBibleChristianAndProlifeSpeaker.net for more information.
Denise George is the author of 30 nonfiction books and leader of Christian Writers for Life, an online group of 4,300 writers who desire to glorify God through the written word. She can be reached through her website, DeniseGeorge.org.
Above: Sara Bible. Photo: Courtesy of Sara Bible