Parents of three, Angela and DJ Moberley were ready to become adoptive parents. The couple looked at adoption facilities and foster care, but quickly realized they were called to something different. They wanted to save a child from abortion through meeting the mother at a clinic.
According to Live Action News, Angela said, “We told her [their lawyer] we wanted to think about trying to go to abortion clinics or somehow connect with abortion-minded women to see if they would consider adoption as an alternative to abortion… Because in the back of our minds we were thinking, ok, most women that are seeking out agencies aren’t usually abortion-minded. They are choosing life at that point, so we were trying to use it as a ministry to reach out to women that are more abortion-minded.”
After jumping through legal hoops and learning about sidewalk counseling, Angela and DJ went to a Planned Parenthood in Charlottesville, Virginia. Only one woman walked into the abortion facility during their time as sidewalk counselors and the man accompanying her would not speak with them.
Their lawyer Brittany Carper however, had a meeting with a woman who was 30 weeks pregnant on a custody case she was on. The mother was caught between losing her young boy or keeping the baby she was pregnant with, and so she was considering getting a late-term abortion. Carper told the mother about the Moberley family and gave her the contact information for DJ.
The following month DJ received the life changing phone call:
“The phone rang and she said, ‘Is Angela there?’ It was odd because my wife is never in my office. I said, ‘Can I help you?’ and she said, ‘Are you her husband?’ I told her yes and she said, ‘I was wondering if you would adopt my baby.’ Just like that, plain and simple. I was totally startled. My initial reaction was to tell her about my wife and her work with Young Lives [a program that works with teen mothers]. Our goal was never to take someone’s baby who could otherwise be given ample help to parent on their own. She said, ‘You don’t understand. I can’t keep my baby. I need you to adopt my baby.’ I didn’t know what to say. I was floored by the whole thing.”
After the three met in person, the decision was made: Angela and DJ would adopt this woman’s baby.
One month later the Moberley’s got the call they had been waiting for: the woman was in labor. Angela and DJ were in the delivery room with her and the three got to see the precious baby boy who was named Ivan. The woman keeps in touch with the Moberleys and receives pictures and updates about Ivan, as well.
Angela says she hopes sharing her story will inspire other families who want to adopt to reach out to women seeking abortion.
“I fully believe our story is not meant to be the only one,” Angela said. “I want other people to know that God can use them in this same way to change the perception of ‘choice,’ and change the world forever.”
College student, Catholic, journalist, and writer. Jeremiah 1:15. Passionate about all life, from conception to natural death, no matter what.
