Life story: A mother’s battle to save her unborn child

The story takes place in 1983 and is based on Botha and her daughter Lodene’s lives.

It came into existence after Abortion Survivors of the Unites States approached Botha and asked whether she would write about her experience with abortion.

Her life story, put shortly, is a mother’s struggle to keep her unborn baby alive through multiple forced abortion attempts by her husband, the baby’s father.

On the back cover, the book is described as dealing with “rejection, abortion and death, but graciously also the value of life”.

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During the six months or so it took her to write the book, Botha said she had relived the entire experience after having it boxed up for an extremely long time.

“And I cried; I cried like I’ve never cried in my life.”

She said Lodene lies very close to her heart.

“Not only because it is a story that took place in Lodene’s and my life, but because, through this event, I realised the value of life,” said Botha.

“That God has the power over life and death and that we, as man, are merely in a privileged position to be able to live. A life that we can live fully only once we realise the greatness of His grace.

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“I’m amazed at how frivolously people dismiss their worth in their core existence. We have everything in our possession; we are equipped with it to live fully to the best of our abilities.

“How can we then, as man, deprive a baby of that privilege?”

Botha said she is often invited to speak at women’s events, churches and other gatherings where she discusses Lodene and the general subject of abortion respectively. The book has been published in both Afrikaans and English.

Some of Botha’s previous works include Afrikaans poetry and also Christian children’s stories.