End the Stigma is a series that tackles issues related to unplanned pregnancies. Our founder, Loren Ward, draws from her unplanned pregnancy experience to change the attitudes and conversations around this topic.

My family has always been pro-life.

My mom chose life for me when she faced an unplanned pregnancy at 19 years old in the Philippines. My biological dad left her, and his side of the family didn’t provide any support during her pregnancy. They didn’t want me to exist, and there was pressure to get an abortion. My mom was also poor at the time. She didn’t have the financial stability to raise a child while being in college.

Despite her situation, she chose to keep me. She persevered and graduated from college as magna cum laude. She sacrificed a lot to give me the best life possible.

My mom’s choice started the culture of life that I saw in my family.

Loren with her mom.

After meeting my stepdad in 2001, my mom married him less than a year later. I have always known my stepdad as my dad since I was 2 years old. After years of battling the legal system in the Philippines, he finally adopted me when I was 13 years old.

My dad often tells the story about how he chose to be my father the day my mom told him about me, that she had a daughter who didn’t have a dad. My dad grew up without his biological father and didn’t want that type of life for me. He had already chosen to be my father, even before he married my mom and even before he met me.

My dad built on that culture of life my mom started by being my father and adopting me.

Loren with her dad.

Throughout my childhood, I witnessed my parents serve children, youth and their families through ministry. They partnered with different churches to serve the communities around us. My parents also founded a children’s ministry called Jesus’ Garden in 2013. It serves anywhere between 100-500 children per week and still continues to grow to this day.

Watching them invest their time, energy and money into that children’s ministry was inspiring. They truly cared about those children’s lives because they believed those children can bring about positive change in their families and communities.

My parents had so much faith in the children they supported. Many of the children that the ministry served are now doing amazing things with their lives. A lot of them volunteer with the ministry and have led their families to the Lord.

That ministry nurtured a culture of life, not only within our family, but within the communities around us.

Outside of their ministry work, my parents went above and beyond to support neighbors, family and friends who needed help. There is one particular memory that comes to mind when I think of this.

I remember the time my mom invited a stranger to live with us. He was living in a dog kennel, abused by the people who were supposed to be helping him. I witnessed him being abused by a neighbor and some cops. They were drunk and threatened him with their guns. I told my mom what I saw, and she immediately called my uncle to get that stranger into our house.

That stranger became a close family friend. He stayed with us for a few months. We helped him get a better job so he could save some money to get back home to the province, where his family lived. He was so grateful for my mom’s generosity.

The kindness and hospitality my mom showed to him built a culture of life and helped a young man invest in his future.

There are so many more examples that I could jot down to show how my parents exemplified pro-life values. I am extremely grateful for the type of upbringing I had. I learned so much from my parents in how they served others.

What they did built a culture of life, and it all started with my mom’s choice of choosing life for me.

So when I was faced with an unplanned pregnancy during my last semester in college, I chose life. I thought back to my mom’s story. “If my mom can do that, then I can too.”

The life of service my parents exemplified inspired me to use my testimony and skills to help others. It’s one of the motivations I had when I started this pro-life storytelling ministry. It has also influenced how my husband and I go about our marriage to serve and bless others.

Creating a culture of life starts in the family. It’s more than just empowering men and women to choose life. It’s more than just saving babies in the womb. It’s about creating a culture that defends the innocent, empowers individuals to overcome adversities, and stands by what is right.