Let’s go back to the 1970's.  A young, newly married couple from Buenos Aires dreamed of starting a family.  But instead, they suffered several failed attempts to get pregnant.  Their desire increased as the months and years passed. Treatments, prayers, . . . nothing seemed to work, until they decided to start the adoption process.

They endured tough requirements, bureaucratic procedures and in-depth investigations in order to be  classified as good candidates.  Finally, they managed to match all the required parameters to be adoptive parents.  

However, as this couple began preparations to adopt, there was a tragedy transpiring.  It was 1978 in the province of Chaco.  A teenager suffered a sexual attack in which she became pregnant by her rapist.  Alone, helpless, humiliated and without any hope, she went to a house -- a hospice as we say. She lived through the pregnancy with great courage.  She had run away from home -- possibly because her family abandoned her, or possibly to avoid being shamed by others.

She had her baby daughter with a normal weight of  just under 8 lbs.  Afterward, she wandered everywhere with the baby in her arms, until she finally decided to place her for adoption.  She went to what we call a cradle house and with great sadness and hope, handed her baby over with the clothes she was wearing.

The staff of the cradle house gave the baby girl love and affection.  No more was heard of that young teenager. . . .

The baby lived among children, nurses and caregivers who struggled every day to keep the house decent and clean, given that the economic situation was unsustainable.

One day, that couple from Buenos Aires received the call of God -- the happiest news of their lives:  "There is a baby who was placed for adoption.  Can you travel as soon as possible to the Province of Chaco?”

The future parents were very excited. They cried and hugged for half an hour, thanking God for their prayers being answered.

Upon arriving in the province of Chaco, they went to the cradle house.  It was fresh.  When they got there, they were received by many children with the hope of leaving that hospice with their adoptive family.  Children were running everywhere.  The maintenance staff was pleading for money for the arrangements of the property.  

Then, the young future adoptive father went to the mall and bought them a new kitchen as a donation. When he returned, he went to one of the many cradles where a baby girl in diapers rested, thin and abandoned.  

Without knowing which crib her awaiting baby was in, the wife had moved forward past the row of cribs with great anxiety.  As she approached crib number 22, the baby girl opened her huge eyes and cried.  With compassion in her heart, the young woman picked her up, cradled her with a lot of love in her arms and the baby stopped crying; the young mother did not release her anymore.

That mother was Luz María and that baby was ME.

The caretakers and nurses of the home asked my mother how she knew this was the baby she was about to adopt and, merrily, she answered: "mother's intuition."

Then all the procedures corresponding to the birth certificate in the Civil Registry were carried out. They named me Maria de la Paz, consecrating me to the Virgin Queen of Peace.  We returned happily to Buenos Aires. There my great-grandmother, grandparents, uncles and cousins awaited us. They had a party and baptized me.

When I was two years old, I had curiously asked my mother if I had been in her tummy, and she said no.  I left it at that and we followed life normally.  I went to kindergarten, I played with my cousins and friends, and I received my First Communion and Confirmation.  I had a very happy childhood, enjoying many birthday parties and Christmas.

When I began adolescence, I started to wonder everything, including my origin.  There was a lot of secrecy about my pre-adoption history.  I was missing 8 months of my life which were empty -- I did not know anything about that time.

When finishing secondary education, I began to work.  I lived the normal life of a young girl going out to the world, to society.  But I never stopped thinking about those 8 empty months of my life.  Nobody told me anything.

Years passed, I got married and had two daughters.  I completed several specialization courses for my career.  I am a therapeutic caregiver, integrative teacher, geriatric assistant, community play director. I am also a catechist in the Diocese of San Miguel Arcángel in Buenos Aires.

It wasn't until 2007 when an aunt told me that my birthmother had been raped and, as a result of that attack, I was born.  I said nothing about this cruel truth.  I went on with my life, until one day, I could not take so much pain anymore.  

I felt guilty about being born and decided to compensate my biological mother with my life.  I offered my whole being to God and after a terrible period of depression, I took pills to relieve myself of the pain.  I was hospitalized for several days as a result. 

My parents and family suffered a lot from this.  They were angry with me, as they did not understand the situation -- a typical reaction, I think.

I managed to recover, thanks to my prayer group, my daughters and family, my in-laws and my friends.  With the time going by, I accepted my reality.

I had two mothers -- one who courageously gave me life and another who gave me her life until her last breath.

It was the summer of 2015 as I was riding a bike through Bella Vista when I saw a sign with the image of an 8-week-old baby asking to be born.  I did not understand the claim.  Then I called the number that appeared and contacted those who organized that campaign "El Bebito" (the little baby). 

I joined their Facebook campaign and started a wonderful connection with Mariana Rodríguez Varela through her sister Helena. They provided me with material to publish and I became a pro-life warrior!

At that time, I knew a teenager who became pregnant, but she did not want that unborn baby.  I had enough information to teach that girl the truth that what she had in her tummy was not a bunch of cells, but a baby.  After long days of dialogue and contention, she decided to continue with the pregnancy!  That experience made me reflect and, immediately, I applied it to my own life.

I still was unable to tell publicly that I was an unwanted baby conceived during a rape . . . , until things became very difficult in my country, The Republic of Argentina, with the bill of "voluntary interruption of pregnancy" which would have legalized abortion for any reason through 14 weeks and up until birth in cases of rape.

One day commenting on Facebook in favor of life, I saw someone suggest that "in cases of rape" it would be good for the rape victim to decide "with her body" by getting rid of the fetus she carries in her womb.  Of course, I did not agree with that statement. Then I commented freely -- for the first time ever.  Their ignorance and cruelty liberated me!

But then I received frightening messages from a relative -- a close cousin -- who tried to make me feel guilty for being born, saying that all the abandoned children should have been aborted, that the adopted ones should not have existed.  Privately she told me that I was guilty of what had happened to my biological mother and that I should not have existed.  As perhaps you can imagine, I felt very badly reading all of these things from a family member.

That afternoon I fainted.  I could not get out of bed, and I cried all the time.  I had the signs of that depression again. Then I sent a message on WhatsApp to Mariana Rodríguez Varela crying and renouncing my participation in the "El Bebito" campaign.  I felt very badly for being born thanks to that insulting cousin.

Immediately, Mariana asked me: "Are you adopted?"  And I answered: "Yes."  It was at that moment that Mariana sustained me with a lot of love, and told me that I was a beautiful story of love.

From that moment, I celebrated my life.  I resurrected.  I had lived years of pain, but now I received the Grace of God through the respect, kindness and affection of Mariana.

I felt very proud of my adoptive parents (or parents of the heart as we say), and I proudly went out into the streets again with the banner of "ElBebito."

It was during an afternoon coffee break when I saw the speech of a young woman named Karina Estrella Etchepare in the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Congress of the Argentine Nation. Her words left me speechless as she shared her story of having been conceived in rape and placed for adoption.

Then, I said to myself: "I am also an adopted daughter who was born in rape" -- the world has to know my humble history.

I started posting on all the networks that I am happily adopted and the result of a violation.  I felt that I should honor my birthmother because of how brave she was to give me up for adoption, choosing life despite the pain she suffered.  Maybe it was not easy for her to surrender me in that cradle house, but that's what she could do, giving me the opportunity to live.

Karina Estrella Etchpare and I became friends, along with many others from Salvar El 1 who were conceived in rape or became pregnant by rape.  These are my sisters!

When they use the pretext of aborting the baby in cases of rape, I do not agree that the baby is condemned to death since she is an innocent being. The father should be condemned for the crime he committed -- not the baby.

Who dares to tell me that my life is worth less than that of anyone who was born during an act of love?  I am not an abomination of nature for having been an unwanted baby!  I can love and be loved.  I am irrefutable proof that my life and my daughters lives are the result of God's triumph on earth.

With my humble story, I want to leave the following legacy to my daughters, to all of the daughters of Argentina, and to all the daughters of the world:  Abortion is not the solution, abortion doesn’t stop a woman from being a mother because, since the moment of conception, the woman will always be a mother.  The "choice" made is whether to be Mother to a living child or a dead child.

Sadly, here in Argentina, it has been legal since the 1920's to abort a child conceived in rape through 14 weeks.  But my birthmother, with a lot of pain, continued valiantly with her pregnancy giving me the possibility of life.  That's why I say yes to life, without exception!

Thanks to the love of my whole family, great-grandmother, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins (the good ones), instead of being an "unwanted baby" I became an "expected baby."

Biography: Maria Paz Rodríguez Coronel Dudignac lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the mother of two girls, a therapist, and a blogger, pro-life speaker and Facebook contributor for Salvar El 1 -- the Spanish division of Save the 1.

Rebecca, it is unusual to meet a person who has been conceived in rape. Could you explain the influence that this discovery had on your understanding of yourself and your life?

When I first learned how I was conceived, I instantly felt targeted and devalued by so much of society because I had heard what people say about abortion in cases of rape. My very soul cried out for my worth. I was wounded by what people said, but I have never been one to crawl into the corner and just give up.

I am safe. I'm alive. But there are others who are yet at risk and the most selfish thing for me to do would be to just say, “Oh well, at least I got to be born.” I can't do that. I feel like my life was spared from a burning building, and as I have the opportunity to go back and save others, I'm going to do it.

Can you explain the origin of the name of your organization?  What is Save The 1 and what is its role within the broad pro-life world?

The name Save The 1 comes from two places. First of all, there is a sad motto within

They will claim that they simply don't have the votes from politicians to be able to save 100%. But the reason they don't have the votes is because they keep supporting rape exception politicians. So in the burning building scenario, what's really happening is that you have firefighters who are coming in for job interviews before the fire chief and they tell the fire chief, “Just so you know, I discriminate. When I go into a burning building I am not going to save them all. I don't want to save children who will be a ‘horrible reminder’ of the fire, and if you try to force me to go in to save them all, then I won't go into save any.”

Now what fire chief in his right mind would hire that firefighter?! But in the United States, the fire chief who is the pro-life leader not only hires the one who promises to discriminate, but when they in fact fail to save the innocents, the leaders give them a hefty bonus in the form of a political action endorsement.

So this is the corruption we have in the United States and it is the majority voice within the pro-life movement here. If you wonder why the United States can't end abortion with so many pro-life organizations and such huge budgets with their fundraising, I am telling you this is why.

Whenever I hear the saying, “Save the 99 in exchange for the 1”, I can't help but think of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, because Jesus left the 99 to save the 1.  In context, Jesus was talking about the little children. He said, “See that you do not despise any of these little ones for I tell you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my Father in heaven.” And then He goes right into the whole Parable of the Lost Sheep, explaining how the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 to save the 1 lost sheep, and He finishes the parable by explaining it’s point: “For in the same way, your father in Heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” And neither should we!

This is why I gave our organization the name Save The 1. I founded it because I had my website rebeccakiessling.com for many years and was continually adding other people’s stories to my website, but I was concerned that if something ever happened to me, then all of those stories would be lost forever. I wanted something which would endure, and I wanted a legacy which would not be under my name. A neutral place was needed for everyone with these stories to feel like we are all part of something greater, and not just belonging to me.

Today we have a global network with a database of over 500 who were conceived in rape or mothers who became pregnant by rape, as well as hundreds from our carry to birth division who were given a challenging prenatal diagnosis and told to abort, or their parents had been told to abort them.

We have a Spanish division, Salvar El 1, which has the largest following on social media which is almost 35,000 on Facebook, as well as a Portuguese division, and we are still in 

We have a team of translators from all over Latin America as well as Spain and I knew that if these stories were translated, then others who speak Spanish would come forward to share their stories. Sure enough, we now have stories of women from all over Latin America and their stories are having to be translated into English for us to share with the English-speaking world!

It is clear that Save The 1 fulfils a clear informative and formative function within the pro-life community. Do you also carry out some kind of support and counseling activities for women who are in a situation similar to that of one of your speakers?

We have many private groups on Facebook for people with the difficult stories. But our Spanish group has not grown like the English groups have. For example, for men who were conceived in rape who speak English, we have almost three dozen members in our private Facebook group for them. We have a few dozen women who speak English who are in our private group for birth mothers who became pregnant by rape. We also have groups by state or region. 

Our Spanish network just has not grown like that yet, but we do hope that, as people know that we have a support network specific to these stories, then they will spread the word and recommend these people to get in contact with us so that we can connect them all together, because no one should have to be alone in this.  Even still, what we hear most commonly is that just reading other people's stories, being able to understand what brought them healing, is very comforting – especially to know that you are not alone.

You were conceived after a violation. Why do you think that the life of the conceived in these circumstances is often considered as a mistake? Why do so many countries’ legislative systems struggle with the introduction of the exceptions clause?

I think the biggest problem has been that we are nameless and faceless to most people. We know that in war, it is always easier to kill the enemy when you dehumanize him or her. As long as we remain merely a concept, it is easier for politicians to sweep us under the rug like we are just dirt of the earth and to consent to us being killed.

This is why I feel so strongly that our stories need to be told, our voices need to be heard so that others would have to look us in the eye before consenting to our people group being killed. I have changed the hearts of many, many politicians throughout the world and here in the United States, including two presidential candidates during their campaigns. They said they could not look me in the eyes and justify the rape exception any longer.

I understand that everyone wishes to show concern for rape victims. My dearest friends on Earth are rape victims. My own precious mother is a rape victim. I very much appreciate people's concern, but they also need to understand that more violence is not the answer. More violence does not bring her healing, and punishing the innocent person is certainly not going to heal her.

I think sometimes it comes down to worldview. If you don't believe in a Creator who designs people and has special plans for each person's life, then you must think that the rapist is creating children like me. For anyone who has ever experienced infertility, you know that you can try to plan your parenthood, but you really don't have the power you thought you had when you were younger. We are not the Creator.

But the real reason why we have rape exception clauses being introduced is because abortion advocates know that this is how they can make abortion legal on demand for any reason. They use rape as merely an excuse to justify all abortions. They know that if they can get abortion legalized in cases of rape, then the door will be open for all abortions. This is how abortion became legal in the United States. In the landmark United States Supreme Court case of Roe versus Wade which legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason, the pregnant woman called “Jane Roe” whose real name was Norma McCorvey later changed her mind about abortion and sought to have her case overturned. She filed a sworn affidavit with Congress explaining that she lied when she said she was gang raped because her lawyers told her to say she was raped -- that it would make her case stronger.

Amnesty International has been advocating to legalize abortion around the world using the rape issue, and on the radio I have debated these advocates from Amnesty International and from other abortion rights organizations. When I made this point that they will use the rape issue to legalize all abortions, they denied that fact. Then I asked the next question, are women going to be required to prove the rape? Will they have to report it? Will there be a trial before the child is convicted and sentenced to death? They always laugh and then say mockingly, you aren't going to believe a rape victim?

They are so smug because they will now play on people's sympathies that you should just simply believe a woman if she goes into an abortion clinic and says she was raped. This is why it will become abortion on demand for any reason. They will coach women to just say they were raped just like Jane Roe was told by her lawyers to say she was raped. Or, they can just coach the doctor to file the abortion as a rape case.

In Spain and probably in other countries of our cultural environment, we feel that the defense of life begins to be a lost topic. Do you also consider that this is so?

Sometimes what I see is much like what I once heard a religious leader refer to as a “holy huddle” -- like how a sports team gets together in a huddle to cheer each other on and discuss strategy. But then they never make it out onto the field to engage the opposition.

It is extremely frustrating to see people of faith who participate in making some image or video of a kitten or dog doing tricks go viral on social media, but when it comes to raising awareness and defending the preborn from being slaughtered, they aren't willing to share on Facebook, Twitter, etc.. This is very disheartening.

In recent years, the abortion lobby and other international organizations have been pushing hard in Latin America to intrude the decriminalization of abortion through exceptions. Little by little, it is getting the culture of death implanted in countries where life has always been protected. How do you contemplate this panorama?

Nations which have been protecting all children without discrimination are better people because you teach love and not hate. I was so impressed to see in the Spring of 2016, 700,000 people show up to the March for Life in Lima Peru, just one month after pro-life people there defeated the efforts to legalize abortion in cases of rape.

Do you know how many people came to the March for Life in the United States when states began legalizing abortion in cases of rape in the mid to late-1960s? None! Noone cared enough to organize a national march. There was no March for Life in the United States until abortion became legal in all circumstances for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy. And even then, we did not reach the number of 700,000 until the 40-year anniversary of the Roe vs Wade Supreme Court case which legalized abortion in every state for any reason.

It took us 40 years to have that many people care enough to sacrifice their time to attend our national March For Life, and that's with over 1 million being slaughtered every year in the United States! In Peru, abortion wasn't even legalized and the effort to legalize it was “only” for the circumstances of rape, and yet, the good people of Peru cared enough about the child conceived in rape to show up and March. You are a different people.  You have more love. Do not become like the United States.

What is the motivation that today, with so much scientific knowledge and technological advances, still a significant number of the political and medical community are so favorable to abortion?

Politicians and physicians often like to control people groups. They can do this through abortion. There are those who are often quite elitist, thinking only the so-called “right” kind of people should be born, which is part of the eugenics mentality, which is rampant in much of the medical community. They have become heartless.

What would you recommend to the Spanish society and the Latin American society so as not to give up in our struggle to defend the lives of all, without exception?

Fight like your own life depended on it. Do not be selfish just because you were wanted by your mother, or because you had the opportunity to be born.

BIO:  Rebecca Kiessling is the founder and President of Save The 1.  She's an international
pro-life speaker, writer and attorney.  David Arboix from Spain is a translator and editor for Salvar El 1 -- the Spanish speaking division of Save The 1.

I am Claude Cyubahiro from Rwanda, Africa.  I was born in 1993 -- one year before the genocide which struck my country in 1994. I am now 22 years old, but going back in my history, I grew up living with my grandmother from when I was a baby up to 11 years old when she passed away in 2005.  I grew up believing that she was my mother.  She cared about me so much and I never asked her where my father was.  Everything that I wanted, I got it, and those materials needs being met were followed with a lot of care and love.

I got to know my biological mother at 4 years old.  She was sick and I went to take care of her.  I spent many days helping her and getting to know her much better.  Actually, she used to come to visit us at our grandmother’s house, but I didn’t know her as my mother at that time.

After the death of my grandmother, I went to live with my mother.  She was married and had other kids (my brothers and a sister.)  Once I moved in, I felt at home and enjoyed life with Dad and Mom like other kids.  At that time, I took that man who was married to her as my father because I could call him Dad and it was no problem.

One day he came with Mom to pick me up at school. I was in high school, in grade 3.  Then we stopped at a supermarket and Mom got out to get some stuff.  While in the car with Dad he asked me, "Did your mother tell you about your dad?”  I was surprised by this question and I replied “No.”  Then he suggested to me, “Why don’t you ask her?” A few minutes later, Mom came back and we continued on the road to home.  I didn’t say anything.  I didn’t even ask her about what Dad said.  I was just choked and confused. 

I buried that story in me hoping that it was a dream, but the story came back in my head and politely I asked my mother, "Who is my dad and what is his name?" She didn’t tell me a lot about what happened, but I could quickly understand what it was all about. She wrote the name of my father on a piece of paper and gave it to me.  After that, I wanted to know if anyone in his family or my father were alive so I can see them.  I wanted to know who they were and was hoping that I would get a clear story from them -- of how I was conceived and born, and what had happened.

With the favor of God, I did meet some members of his family and that’s where I got a clear story of my beginnings. At first my mother had told me before that my father had denied me -- saying that I am not his. But the story behind it all is that my mother was a friend of my father’s.  They all worked in the same company and Mom was a beautiful lady with two sons -- twins.  My father asked her for a night out, then drugged her and raped her. 

My mother later found out that she was pregnant with me.  She tried to talk to my father, but he sent her away and rejected her request for help. Abortion was a consideration for my Mom because she had a fiance and together they had two boys, so abortion would have been a solution to save her relationship. She was 25 years old when she was raped. 

The 1977 law prohibited abortion "except when the continuance of the pregnancy seriously endangers the health of the pregnant woman," requiring a second medical opinion and the abortion to be performed by a State physician or physician approved by the State in a public hospital or a private hospital approved by the State, but many were willing to provide abortion if a woman was raped.  Sadly, in June, 2012, the law was changed in Rwanda to allow abortion in cases of rape and incest.  So I was protected by Rwanda abortion law in 1993, but I know that God protected me.

At my birth, my Mom went alone to the hospital to deliver me.  I was born normal and healthy, so she didn’t even spend any days at the hospital.

Going back home, she passed by my father’s house and wanted to go there and drop me there.  Stopping at his house, my father and his family rejected her again. They sent her out calling her a prostitute while she was carrying a baby in her arms – me, with only hours on earth.

Getting to her home, my grandmother received me and gave me a name.  She said, “This baby boy who was rejected is mine.  I will raise him and he will become a man." My life was saved in that moment, and I thank God for that gift of life!

A few months after that, the war strikes in my country -- "genocide," and my biological father who was a Tutsi was killed, along with many other members of his family.  But as for me, I was with my grandmother who protected me and I survived.

Learning about all of this choked me so much.  I was alone and I had no one with whom to share all of this.  I even started fearing others, thinking that if they knew who I am, they would hate me for that. I felt unwanted, rejected and alone.  I went into a period of deep depression, and even wanted to commit suicide.  I lost all the hope that I had!  I didn’t go into drug abuse during my depressed time, but I faced another kind of addiction.

When I learned about my past and got into a deep depression, I started hating myself.  I couldn’t even talk to anyone -- always thinking that they know “who I am” -- that I was conceived in rape and that my father rejected me.  My performance at school changed and my attitude did the same.

I was born into a Christian family.  My grandmother helped me to become a Christian, and returning that foundation is what helped me to learn my dignity and my value -- that even if I was born unwanted, rejected at birth and unplanned in the sight of my family, I now know that God loved me and he cannot reject me because He wanted me and chose for me to be born in that way so that He can proclaim His glory through me.

I started watching many documentary movies and read many books about people who overcame many struggles, and my role model is Jesus.  I learned a lot from the story of Pope John Paul II, abortion survivor Melissa Ohden, and Rebecca Kiessling who was also conceived in rape. Once I knew all about my own story, I wanted to meet someone with the same one, who has the same story as mine so we can share and help each other to stand.  Surprisingly, Rebecca Kiessling all the way in the United States is the first one I met.  We connected through Facebook and she introduced me to many others from Save The 1. From these stories – that is how I got my hope back.  I cannot feel alone anymore!

In Rwanda, children who were conceived as the result of the genocide have been called the “pregnancies of war,” “enfants non-desirés” (unwanted children) or “enfants mauvais souvenir” (bad memories children.) 

I give honor to my brothers and sisters’ babies who were not born because they were aborted, or who were rejected and died.  I am here to speak on their behalf!  I want to become a voice for unborn and rejected babies. I want to help many babies who will pass through this situation -- to give them hope and to be there for them.  I want to encourage others to go against abortion no matter how the baby is conceived, in rape or in any other unwanted way.

When I asked my Mom what she thinks of me now, she recited Psalm 118:22:  "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes.  The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad."  Then she told me to ask her the meaning of this verse. . . .  My Mom is proud of me.  She's very happy that I want to attend medical school, but also worried because she cannot help me to pay for it. Even so, I know God has a plan for my life, and I want to be used.

BIO:  Claude Cyubahiro is a university student and a blogger for Save The 1 from Kigali, Rwanda.