A 4 - The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e s d a y M a y 7, 2003 HaltonSearch.cVtn . Pro-life activist brings poignant story to students By Howard Mozel ..jtA r t- a ^ c /£ G h - £ u v a y ! OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF If you or someone you know Ls facing abuse, call us.Weaui help. 24 hours a dav 7 days a week Tbll-Free Available in 154 languages Crisis Line GTA: (416) 863-0511 TOLL FREE (Ontario) T O lJ .f fiffir m o n ta r io ) 1-866-863-7868 assaulted wom en's help line www.awhl.org Rebecca Kiessling is the face of the pro-life movement -- lit erally. The 33-year old Michigan woman -- whose biological mother became pregnant after a brutal rape -- spoke last Thursday to St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School stu dents about how her life was nearly aborted only to be spared so that she could fulfil her poten tial as a human being. It's anonymous and confidential. "The rapist is not my cre ator," she said. "I'm not the `product of rape' but a child of God." Kiessling, a family law attor ney who conducts 70 speaking engagements a year, began her story with being adopted shortly after her birth in July 1969. Her adoptive mother was bi-polar and her adoptive father main tained that behaviour was entire ly genetic - a misguided belief that would trouble his daughter greatly in subsequent years. "I had a tough childhood to say the least," said Kiessling. who felt "different from every one else" and wanted to find her birth mother even more. Unfortunately, she was not allowed to make inquiries until age 18 so, in the meantime, Kiessling wrote poems which expressed her confusion and longing in every line. Finally, she received a wealth o f infor mation about her birth mother, but only learned that her father was a Caucasian and had a large build. "That sounded like a police ^ C o b b le S lO N E m b e iS "M a s o n r y & F i r e p l a c e D e s ig n S p e c ia lis ts " W HERE GREAT FU R S H A N G GUT! 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S e a r s r e g . 4 4 9 .9 9 . E x tr a - la r g e c a p a c it y d r y e r · 3 t e m p e r a t u r e o p t io n s · 3 d r y c y c le s # 6 9 2 0 2 . S e a r s r e g . 3 9 9 .9 9 . No Deferral Fee, No Money Down, Pay nothing 'til January 2004 on major appliances and more! No payments until January 2004, only with your Sears Card on approved credit. Minimum S200 purchase. description," said Kiessling, who asked her caseworker if her birth mother was raped. The shocking answer was yes. "1 was just devastated. I felt so ugly." If her adoptive father was correct, she thought, then her genes were those of a serial rapist, so what would become of her son? What man would want her? Because some people feel (and others have even told her) that abor tion is right only in cases of rape, Kiessling felt that "half the world was against me." and that she had to justify Rebecca Kiessling her own exis tence to be worthy of being alive. "I felt I was being devalued every day." said Kiessling, who thought that if she was successful, attractive and found the right man, then this proof of a worthwhile life would "single-handedly" bring an end to abortion. ``Can you look me in the eye and say 'I think your mother should have been able to abort you.'" Kiessling said other people profess that a fetus "doesn't know what hits it" during an abortion, to which she argues that if someone is stabbed in the back while they slept, they wouldn't feel a thing either. That doesn't make it right, she argued. At age 18, Kiessling renewed her efforts to meet her birth mother but given many people's perception of rape and abortion, her search was fraught with fear and insecurity. "I thought my mother must hate me, probably wanted to abort me and would never want to meet me," she said. Finally, Kiessling's caseworker pro vided her birth mother's phone number and one day, trembling, she called. "She said i 'v e been expecting your call.'" It was then that Kiessling was told details of the horrifying assault in which her birth mother was dragged off the street and violated at knife-point. " He brutally raped her every way possible," said Kiessling. "That's how I was conceived." The pair finally met 14 years ago on her birth mother's 51st birthday after Kiessling received a wonderful letter then attended the kind o f family reunion - which included a new sister and grandmother - she always dreamed of. "1 felt so affirmed," she said. "Yes, 1 was wanted." Tough questions followed, however, like if abortion had been legal at the time, would Kiessling's birth mother have terminated the pregnancy? The dreadful answer was yes, and Kiessling was told by her birth mother that she had sought out two "back alley abor tionists," but changed her mind. Another time a snowstorm prevented the abortion, after which the troubled mother-to-be decided once and for all to keep her child. "Some people have told me `God wanted you here.'" said Kiessling. "God wants every baby born. All lives matter. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." Today. Kiessling marvels at the chain of events that led her to become a fami ly law attorney helping clients who, among other things, are being coerced by family and boyfriends into having abortions. There is no explanation, she said, save God. "I could never have orchestrated all this myself," she said. The last several years have been good ones for Kiessling: she met and married a wonderful man (her birth mother attended the wedding) and a child, Carina, is due in August. Kiessling adopted her first child, Caleb, after a 16-year old -- who may have been date-raped -- gave him up. Her second, Kyler, who was abused, was also adopted. Kiessling then adopt ed Kayla. Cassie, a seriously ill baby whom Kiessling also adopted, passed away after only 33 days of life. Despite her pain, Kiessling said it was an honour to be her mother. "Birth is a reward," she told the stu dents. "How do you see your worth?" T IC K E T EVEN T A P R IL 2 7 T O MA.Y 1 7 2 0 0 3 Sale price in effect Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May 10, 2003 Tilt: OAKVILLE i n PRESENTED BY 50 y e a r s o f q u a lit y , v a lu e , s e r v ic e , t r u s t NAME OF YOUR SCHOOL, GROUP OR ORGANIZATION: S e a r s O a k v i l l e P l a c e M o n .-F ri. 1 0 a m -9 p m . S a t. 8 a m -6 p m . S u n .11 a m -5 p m . S e a r s F u r n i t u r e & A p p l i a n c e S t o r e M i s s i s s a u g a M o n .-F ri. 1 0 a m -9 p m . S a t. 1 0 a m -6 p m . S u n .11 a m -5 p m . NE052M503 © 2003. Sears Canada Inc. Send or drop off your collected coupons to: THE O A K V ILLE BEAVER, 467 SPEERS R D . O A K V ILLE ON L6K 3S4 No copies or reproductions accepted