22-year-old Molly Anne Dutton was crowned Auburn University’s 100th homecoming queen this past Saturday but that’s just part of what makes her story headline worthy.
Dutton’s biological mother was a victim of a sexual assault, resulting in pregnancy. A married woman at the time, her husband gave her an ultimatum: abort the baby or face a divorce.
Dutton’s mother chose to move from California to Alabama to carry the baby to term and placed her baby girl up for adoption with the help of Lifeline’s Children Services, a Christian adoption agency in Birmingham.
Now, 22 years later, Dutton is sharing the difficult circumstances of how she was brought into the world with the goal of raising awareness and providing information about options available to women during “crisis pregnancies.” Her campaign is called “Light up LIFE” and in addition to YouTube videos and speaking on campus, she’s raising money for the Christian adoption agency that placed her with a family by selling t-shirts on campus.
“Because that resource was made available to my mother, she decided to give birth to me,” Dutton says in her campaign video. “And here I am talking to you guys 22 years later.”
Although her story is a tough one to tell, she says she is honored to be able to tell it.
“I was given grace to carry that story,” she said.”My story is a voice for the voiceless.”
Read more at BlackVoices.com.
