<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"PinterestFacebookA couple people in my life asked if I was going to get an abortion when I announced my pregnancy. I won&amp;#39;t lie. I thought about it. I never went to a doctor that performed abortions (mine does not) or prescribed the pill, but I did sit alone in my NYC bedroom, stare out into the courtyard, squinting at the sun as it filtered through the trees and again at those same trees, only behind a deep purple night sky. I was five weeks pregnant--he was just a cluster of cells with a heartbeat that flickered like a tiny lightening bug, right? Maybe it would be easier to call this a mistake and just resume life as usual. I could go to work, go to happy hour, go to sleep--pretend it never happened. But, it did. My baby did happen and he&amp;#39;s not a mistake. I didn&amp;#39;t look pregnant, but I felt pregnant. I remember wondering if this was my only chance at a baby. It&amp;#39;s a question like, what happens when you die? The unknown is a powerful, beautiful thing--it launches me into every new day. Sure, everyone deserves a second chance, but everyone doesn&amp;#39;t get one. I came upon this essay heading into my second trimester--and it changed my life.\n__The Decision That Changed My Life: Keeping My Baby\nBy: Maya Angelou__\nOriginally Published in Family Circle Magazine\n&amp;quot;When I was 16, a boy in high school evinced interest in me, so I had sex with him -- just once. And after I came out of that room, I thought, Is that all there is to it? My goodness, I&amp;#39;ll never do that again! Then, when I found out I was pregnant, I went to the boy and asked him for help, but he said it wasn&amp;#39;t his baby and he didn&amp;#39;t want any part of it.\nI was scared to pieces. Back then, if you had money, there were some girls who got abortions, but I couldn&amp;#39;t deal with that idea. Oh, no. No. I knew there was somebody inside me. So I decided to keep the baby.\nMy older brother, Bailey, my confidant, told me not to tell my mother or she&amp;#39;d take me out of school. So I hid it the whole time with big blouses! Finally, three weeks before I was due, I left a note on my stepfather&amp;#39;s pillow telling him I was pregnant. He told my mother, and when she came home, she calmly asked me to run her bath.\nI&amp;#39;ll never forget what she said: &amp;quot;Now tell me this -- do you love the boy?&amp;quot; I said no. &amp;quot;Does he love you?&amp;quot; I said no. &amp;quot;Then there&amp;#39;s no point in ruining three lives. We are going to have our baby!&amp;quot;\nWhat a knockout she was as a mother of teens. Very loving. Very accepting. Not one minute of recrimination. And I never felt any shame.\nI&amp;#39;m telling you that the best decision I ever made was keeping that baby! Yes, absolutely. Guy was a delight from the start -- so good, so bright, and I can&amp;#39;t imagine my life without him.\nAt 17 I got a job as a cook and later as a nightclub waitress. I found a room with cooking privileges, because I was a woman with a baby and needed my own place. My mother, who had a 14-room house, looked at me as if I was crazy! She said, &amp;quot;Remember this: You can always come home.&amp;quot; She kept that door open. And every time life kicked me in the belly, I would go home for a few weeks.\nI struggled, sure. We lived hand-to-mouth, but it was really heart-to-hand. Guy had love and laughter and a lot of good reading and poetry as a child. Having my son brought out the best in me and enlarged my life. Whatever he missed, he himself is a great father today. He was once asked what it was like growing up in Maya Angelou&amp;#39;s shadow, and he said, &amp;quot;I always thought I was in her light.&amp;quot;\nYears later, when I was married, I wanted to have more children, but I couldn&amp;#39;t conceive. Isn&amp;#39;t it wonderful that I had a child at 16? Praise God!&amp;quot;\nIsn&amp;#39;t it wonderful I had JD? Praise God!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/story/decision-to-keep-my-baby>