February 27, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Claire Culwell is one of the most well-known pro-life speakers in the United States. Now a mom with four of her own children, she survived an attempted abortion while in her 13-year-old birth mother’s womb. But she might not have chosen the path she did if it weren’t for meeting her birth mother face-to-face a decade ago.
“Her tears moved me to action. Her pain moved me to action,” Culwell told pro-life activist Jonathon van Maren last week on his podcast. “I could not stay silent because I realized how this affected me.”
Culwell grew up knowing she was adopted but unaware that her birth mother tried to abort her. She said she met her birth mother when she was in her early twenties. Five months later, she shared her heartbreaking story to a youth group for the first time.
“I realized that day that this is good, something evil can be used for good. And so I never looked back. I've continued to share my story for the past 10 years.”
Culwell told van Maren that when she met her birth mother, it had a therapeutic affect — on both of them.
“As she began her healing journey, she was able to say, ‘Okay, Claire forgives me. Claire sees what I experienced. But not only that, I'm being told that God forgives me!’”
Culwell said that her birth mother has also publicly shared what it was like being forced to get an abortion when she was 13.
“It’s been incredible to watch as there has been so much redemption,” Culwell said. “Nobody should walk the face of the earth as an abortion survivor or as the mother of an abortion survivor.”
Culwell, who was put up for adoption, said she told her birth mother that regardless of what she did in the past, she loves and appreciates her.
“I wanted her to know that she was the best mother for me, for what she had done for me and giving me my family and giving me my life. I had an incredible upbringing because of her choice to give me my family in my life.”
The Van Maren Show is hosted on numerous platforms, including Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes, and Google Play.
For a full listing of episodes, and to subscribe to various channels, visit our Acast webpage here.
To receive weekly emails when a new episode is uploaded, subscribe here: