The Search that Keeps Saving

Her mother tried to abort her, but Delana Brooks now lives to save the unborn.

“God had His hand on my life,” said Delana, the executive director of Pregnancy Help Center of Fort Worth (PHCFW). “I knew that somehow, I was protected…. I lived when I could have died that day.”

After her miraculous pre-birth survival, Delana’s first eight weeks were spent in foster care, before she was adopted by a loving, Christian family. Her life, which had started roughly, was now on track for redemption.

But there were signs that her life prior to adoption had been less than ordinary.

“I have some scars on my chest and on my leg.” She and her family (who also had no idea what had happened) had always assumed the scars came from skin tag surgery not long after birth.

It wasn’t until Delana was in her early twenties, married, and pregnant with her first child that she began to seriously question the scars. At one appointment with her OBGYN, her doctor asked what the scars were from, and Delana told her what she’d always believed.

“She said, ‘No, that isn’t. That is not a skin tag surgery. …It looks like somebody butchered you.’”

The OBGYN encouraged her to get her medical records. The inexplicable scaring and the new life growing inside her prompted Delana to ask questions she never had. Though she’d known since the age of three that she was adopted, the questions about her first eight weeks grew.

“When I had my son, when I held him for the first time, I just couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to have a baby and then to pass that baby off to place for adoption. And I knew that women had difficult choices, and there had to have been a reason why someone would choose adoption, so my heart felt almost a sadness for my birth mom.”

Delana began her search by reaching out to a judge, who allowed the records to be opened. Soon, a mediator found Delana’s birth mother, who, quite miraculously, agreed to meet Delana. If she had refused, everything would have been closed, and Delana's questions would have forever gone unanswered.

Meeting Her Birth Mother

“I met with my birth mom, and she shared her story with me.” Delana’s biological mother had been in her third year of college when she found out she was pregnant. Quite simply, she’d never wanted to have children and she wasn’t willing to be a mother. So, as she explained matter-of-factly, she gave Delana up for adoption.

This wasn’t what Delana had imagined. “I think I had a story of her being almost forced to give me away. …That’s not what she was telling me.”

Delana was also able to meet her biological father. He’d married another woman, and for seven years, he and Delana were able to stay in contact until he passed away.

Surprisingly, it was his wife who first revealed the truth about what had happened before Delana was born. “I told her that I was really kind of surprised my birth mother didn’t have an abortion when she was pregnant with me, because everything, every conversation I had had with her up to that moment, she was very pro-choice. …His wife at the that time told me, ‘We didn’t want to tell you this, but she actually did have an abortion with you.”

To Delana’s surprise, the story unfolded that her mom went to a doctor in Carrollton, Texas, to have the procedure done. Everything went according to plan—or so everyone thought.

"But something went wrong. The doctor had a bad day, and I lived."
- Delana Brooks

“Why Did I Live?”

Before learning about her mother’s abortion attempt, Delana asked her birth mom several times about her scars. “She would change the subject and be dismissive about it and never would give me any answers.”

But with the new information, Delana changed her approach. “I asked her if she felt like the scars were from the abortion. And she said she did.”

Now that she had her answers, what could she do with this info…other than to process it and forgive?

Delana continued on with her life, and when the executive director position at PHCFW became available eleven years ago, she felt it was an open door from the Lord, who had given her a heart for the pro-life cause and the women and families the center served.

However, surrounded daily with the reality of millions of babies being lost to abortion over the years, the question remained: “Why did I live and these others didn’t?”

Then one night at a fundraiser gala, Delana stood at the back of the room while the speaker she’d invited, Melissa Ohden, told her testimony as an abortion survivor. “I just stood by the door listening to her and just hanging on to every word, feeling like I’m not alone. This isn’t just something that happened to me. This has happened to other people as well.”

“Services that I would have liked for my birth mom”

Since 1986, PHCFW has served 62,000 women in difficult situations.

Obviously, for Delana, the mission is personal. “My hope is when the women come through the door that [they] will receive services that I would have liked for my birth mom to have received.”

Being a center that supports women at every stage of pregnancy requires more than raising awareness about abortion and the choices available to a pregnant woman. Offering ultrasounds, pregnancy testing, and prenatal vitamins, they offer not only medical care but resources and counseling. Their goal is to remove any obstacle that a woman with an unplanned pregnancy may encounter, while also sharing the love of Christ.

As such, it’s a ministry of tangible help as well eternal impact, seeing sixty to eighty salvations each year. “We want her to know that she too is made in the image of God. She was an unborn baby [too].”

Sometimes, in one-on-one conversations with clients, Delana shares her own story. But mostly, she just wants to be able to pray for each woman, give her a Bible, and have her know she’s not alone. Often, women come in carrying years of hurt and trauma, but love and compassion opens their hearts.

“So many times I’ve had clients who [I] felt like there was a wall there, and it was really a protective defense. …And we ask if we can pray and I’ll pray for her and as soon as I say ‘Amen’ and I look up, she’s sobbing, tears rolling down her face because she's never had anyone pray for her before. It's impactful."

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"Ninety-five percent of the women that walk through our doors choose life."

Generations of Impact

Speaking for the voiceless has life-or-death stakes in the moment. Over time, the impact becomes more and more evident.

One day, a woman stopped into the center to simply say thank you to the staff and volunteers. She told them that she’d been determined to have an abortion because everyone in her life—her parents, her friends, everyone she drew support from—was steering her in that direction. But she’d come to PHCFW, and everything had changed for her.

She pulled out photos to show the staff and volunteers, showing a little boy at six months old, then one when he was five, another playing T-ball. The pictures kept coming. “Here’s one when he got his drivers license… When he graduated high school…. When he joined the miliary.”

“Come to find out,” Delana said, “she was one of our first clients that came in after we opened in 1986.”

The woman’s son was in his thirties and expecting his first child.

The generations of impact was not lost on Delana. “I have children that would not be here if [my mother’s abortion] had been a successful abortion.” Because abortion did not win for both these women, they have seen the joy of future generations.

“It really is about God’s Kingdom and God’s children.”

Like Joseph in the Bible, Delana’s story is also one where she could look face-to-face with a relative and say, “What you meant for evil, God used for good.” God’s sovereignty and kindness not only saved Delana, but now her story—which can never be taken away—causes people to reflect, reconsider, and respond in the fight for life.

She’s just grateful to be a vessel and to be a part of a ministry like PHCFW. Referring to everyone involved, including Blessings International’s donors, she said, “One day we’ll stand before the Lord, and we’ll see the eternal rewards for the things that are done on earth. …You’ll really see the impacts made for the Kingdom because it really is about God’s Kingdom and God’s children. So thank you!”

Blessings International is helping pregnancy resource centers in forty-four states and wants to help even more clinics like Pregnancy Help Center of Fort Worth. Please give to the USA fund to help us extend our reach.

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For even more stories from PHCFW, go here.