Mexican woman raped at age 13 explains why she never considered abortion

Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 23, 2010 / 05:59 pm (CNA).- Liana Rebolledo is a 33-year-old Mexican woman. In a recent television interview she recounted that after she was raped at the age of 13 and became pregnant, she never considered aborting her daughter, who is now 20.

In an interview on the Telestai network, Rebolledo explained how difficult it was to experience the trauma of a rape. “I had my daughter at 13” and it was her life that “saved me.”

“In my case abortion was never an option, it was never considered. It was a difficult situation but she was the one who gave me the will to keep living,” Rebolledo said.

Rebolledo added that getting past the rape was “a process more difficult than you can imagine. You always think it could happen to anyone else, but not to you … I didn’t understand. At that age you don’t understand why you are experiencing such a situation.”

After revealing that she tried to commit suicide because of the rape, and not because of the pregnancy, Rebolledo said, “The doctor told me, don’t worry, you won’t be able to continue the pregnancy, your womb is very young, you have lost a lot of weight, it is going to be a high-risk pregnancy.” The doctor also said, “your life is in danger so I will talk to your mom.”

But Rebolledo said, hearing the heartbeat of her baby was crucial. “I realized I had something with me, something mine, that belonged to me.” She knew that she “was not going to be alone.”

“There was something that said to me: ‘Now I have someone to live for’.”

Sometimes, she said, people say to her, “You gave life to such a special person. I reply: She gave life to me because after what I experienced, I should have ended up psychologically harmed. I don’t know how I would have ended up, but I wouldn’t be here today telling you what the life of my daughter has meant to me.”

“I came from a dysfunctional home where there was a lot of domestic violence. There was no foundation and we were not raised with values or faith,” she said. Rebolledo then added that what gave her strength during the pregnancy was “the fact of knowing that I had to fight for that life and I had to protect her and care for her so that what happened to me would not happened to her”

“I didn’t want her to suffer the emotional abandonment that I did.”

“I don’t regret anything,” she continued. “She is the only thing that brings me consolation.” “Today I think, how is it possible that people think these little ones don’t have the right to live? They bring you so much joy, they are full of life, they are with you in the most difficult moments.”

“I don’t think abortion is an option. If you don’t want the child, you can give him up for adoption,” she said. “Pregnancy is not the problem. The problem is, what is going on that is leading such little girls to end up pregnant at such a young age.”

Speaking about her pro-life activism and volunteer work, Rebolledo said she goes to abortion clinics “on Saturdays and I try to speak to the women to make them see that there is a solution, there is hope, there is a way. In all the times I have gone, I have only seen one case of rape.”

Rebolledo encouraged girls in similar situations to believe in themselves. “You can find a way to move forward. Have faith and hope that you can do it. Visualize your goal. When you have these little ones at your side, you can do it, they support you. At the end of the day you realize everything was worth it.”

“If I had to go through it again, I would do it just to be able to meet her,” she said, referring to her daughter.

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