Thirty-three-year-old Neesha smiled as she talked about the state law that led her to choose life for her son. In 2022, Neesha lived in Georgia and was a busy single mom to four beautiful children. When she found out that she was expecting a fifth child, she worried about having the time and resources to give her baby the life he deserved while also caring for her other children.
“I kept thinking that I can’t do another pregnancy alone, and I had to look at other options,” she said.
Neesha told a friend that she felt like abortion was the only answer. She had already had several abortions, and while she was familiar with the process, each abortion had left her feeling empty and, as she put it, more “desensitized” to life. She thought often about her aborted children, and she wondered what their life would have been like.
Feeling as though she had no other options, Neesha called an abortion center to schedule the procedure. She was told that Georgia’s heartbeat law limits abortion once a baby’s heartbeat is detected, usually around six weeks’ gestation. At this stage of fetal development, a baby’s heart is already beating at 110 beats per minute and the unborn baby has over a 90 percent chance of surviving to birth and beyond.
Neesha’s unborn baby already had a heartbeat, so she didn’t proceed with an abortion. Recounting her experience now, she said that she is grateful and thankful for the heartbeat law because it opened her eyes to the other options available for her and her child.
A friend at church connected her with a whole network of resources in Georgia to support women facing unplanned pregnancies before, during, and after the birth. One of these organizations was Abiding Love, an adoption agency that works to support birth mothers through an open adoption. Neesha said adoption was never really discussed among her family, and she had many questions about the process.
After meeting with the team at Abiding Love, Neesha chose life for her unborn son and decided to move forward with adoption. As the process started, Neesha faced an incredible hurdle when she was laid off from her job. The Abiding Love team never left Neesha’s side and assisted her financially so that she could focus on her health and her family.
When Neesha was ready, she selected a couple from Florida to adopt her son, and they met for the first time at a local restaurant. Months earlier, Neesha had been encouraged to write down everything she was looking for in an adoptive family, and this couple perfectly aligned with what she envisioned.
Over the next several months, Neesha bonded with the adoptive couple, and they supported her during her pregnancy and helped prepare for the new baby’s arrival.
“They loved him before they even knew who he was,” Neesha said. “They gave me a tour of his room, and they had clothes for him. They were ready for him.”
The adoptive parents stayed with Neesha at the hospital during her delivery of a beautiful and healthy baby boy. “I was able to bask in the moment and to see that his new parents were there for me and for him.”
Today, Neesha has a loving and open relationship with her 10-month-old son and his adoptive parents.
“Even though I didn’t plan for this pregnancy, even though I didn’t have a plan in place, there were people who did,” Neesha said. “There were people who were waiting for his arrival. There were people who already loved him before they met him. There were people ready to embrace him. There were people ready to conquer everything with him no matter what.”
Neesha credits Georgia’s heartbeat law with opening her eyes to the beauty of adoption. “I love my son so very much. The heartbeat law not only saved his life, but it blessed another family’s life. It’s an all-around beautiful story,” she said.
Today, Neesha openly shares her story to help other women who face unplanned pregnancy and to draw attention to the importance of life-affirming laws like the heartbeat law.
“I get to live a life of freedom and rejoicing, and I get to show women that there is another way. It doesn’t make you any less of a mother if you choose adoption for your child. It makes you a strong individual.”
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