A lot has changed since Noelle Isabell, 37, placed her daughter for adoption 20 years ago. Since then, she’s been a birth mom to a daughter she placed for adoption and is now the mother of her 10-year-old son, Nick. Through her unique and inspiring journey of motherhood, she understands the brave choices of placing a child for adoption and raising a child, as well as cultivating a deep disgust for the abortion industry.  

20 years ago, 16-year-old Isabell was attending a Christian school when she was pregnant with her high school boyfriend. She tried to deny it over the first five months, refusing to take a pregnancy test. It wasn’t until her boyfriend drove her to a local CVS.  

“I remember sitting in the car waiting for my boyfriend to purchase the pregnancy test,” recalled Isabell. “I was watching people go in and out of the CVS thinking their life was perfect while mine was falling apart.”  

The test came back positive, and when she told her parents, it was a huge challenge to work through with her family. After many years have passed, Isabell and her family are grateful she chose life.  

“When my mom took me to the OB GYN, I didn’t even want to see my baby. I remember the nurse telling me I’d want to look, and she was right. When I saw the ultrasound, I was like ‘there’s a real baby in my belly.’”  

Through Christian Adoption Services, a part of Baptist Children’s Home of North Carolina, Isabell placed her daughter for a semi-open adoption, and her daughter ended up with two loving parents. 

As Isabell has continued with life, she’s learned valuable lessons – there’s beauty in adoption and motherhood, and though both are hard, abortion is never the answer. When she was young, she was educated on the immorality of abortion, but it was never explained how it worked.  

LEARN THE FACTS ABOUT ABORTION

“In school, we were taught that abortion was wrong, but not exactly why,” Isabell explained. “Having sex outside of marriage was seen as just as bad. So, when I got pregnant, I felt so much shame – I wish I hadn’t.”  

During an internship in her 20s, she interned at a Crisis Pregnancy Center where she learned about Abby Johnson, former Planned Parenthood Director, and the horrors of Chemical Abortion Pills and surgical abortion.  

“I had to tell everyone I knew about this,” said Isabell. “They had to know how horrible abortion was. I talked about it so much, people wanted me to stop.” 

As well as being strongly pro-life and educating those around her, she’s openly telling her story to encourage birth moms to share their stories and applaud them for choosing life through adoption. Christian Adoption Services hosts birth mom retreats to moms can connect, share, heal, and embrace each other.  

“Abortion will never ‘fix’ anything,” said Isabell. “Being a mother is a sacrifice. It’s an ultimate sacrifice to have someone else parent your child. It’s not to toot our own horn. It is insane that birth moms did that. It’s a hard thing, but it’s so rewarding in so many ways.” 

Students for Life of America (SFLA) admonishes the sacrifice of all mothers, whether it’s for a long or short time, whether it’s through adoption or birth. Our goal is to also educate people about the horrors of abortion.

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