Conspirituality - Listen Now: Liberty Lost
Aired: 2025-06-23
Duration: 05:47


=== Abby and Nathan's Dilemma (05:34) ===

[00:00:00]  In evangelical homes across the United States, sex outside of marriage is a sin against God.
[00:00:06]  So when Abby becomes pregnant at 16, her devout parents hide her away at the Liberty Godparent Home, a little-known facility for pregnant teens on the campus of Liberty University.
[00:00:19]  The home says it helps girls decide what comes next, whether that's parenting their babies or placing them up for adoption.
[00:00:26]  But inside the facility, the girls hear a different message.
[00:00:31]  God wants their babies to go to more deserving Christian couples.
[00:00:36]  From Wondery, Liberty Lost is a new podcast about a startling true story of young love, coercion, and defiance, and the dangerous resurgence of maternity homes in post-Roe America.
[00:00:52]  Some girls will find the strength to fight back.
[00:00:55]  Others will have no choice but to give in, and some, like Abby, will turn their grief into resistance and take a stand against the system before more mothers lose their children to adoptions they never wanted.
[00:01:10]  I'm about to play a clip from Liberty Lost.
[00:01:14]  Follow Liberty Lost on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:01:19]  Music by Ben Thede Abby and Nathan are waiting for the signal.
[00:01:30]  Any moment now, the ceremony will begin.
[00:01:34]  You feel this tension, this unknown of what-ifs.
[00:01:38]  Both of them are trembling, but they've made sure to look their best.
[00:01:44]  17-year-old Abby spent the morning carefully curling her long brown hair.
[00:01:49]  I wanted to look good and be a good old southern girl like I was raised to be.
[00:01:54]  And 19-year-old Nathan's in a crisp white button-down with freshly cropped hair.
[00:02:00]  The only haircut I've ever paid for in my entire life I got before that.
[00:02:05]  Through the door, they can hear the crowd growing.
[00:02:09]  Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles.
[00:02:12]  They're all here to see Abby and Nathan walk down the aisle.
[00:02:17]  Finally, it's time.
[00:02:22]  We walked out the doors, and I was just like, the grand reveal.
[00:02:26]  Family and friends turn to get a better look.
[00:02:30]  Abby and Nathan walk side by side.
[00:02:33]  In his arms, Nathan holds their son, who was born just 11 days ago.
[00:02:40]  And I'm walking down this aisle, and I remember feeling like everyone in the room wants me to be excited for this.
[00:02:50]  Abby and Nathan both come from evangelical families.
[00:02:55]  Their baby was born outside of God's union.
[00:02:59]  And now, Abby's parents have told them it's time to correct their mistake.
[00:03:06]  At the end of the aisle, a petite, blonde, southern woman in her mid-30s and her dark-haired husband are waiting for them.
[00:03:16]  Or rather, they're waiting for Abby and Nathan's son.
[00:03:22]  And that's because today's celebration is not a wedding.
[00:03:28]  I was being punished and being told I wasn't worthy of getting to be the one who had him be his mother.
[00:03:35]  And this couple waiting for them at the end of the aisle, they've been chosen to be the baby's parents, whether Abby and Nathan like it or not.
[00:03:46]  And so I'm disgusted in my body every step I take forward.
[00:03:52]  I'm just horrified by what's occurring.
[00:03:57]  They reach the end of the aisle, and Nathan forces himself to gently place his son in the couple's arms.
[00:04:06]  I remember being like, I want to burn this place down.
[00:04:09]  I just watched them holding him and felt empty inside.
[00:04:16]  Everyone prays.
[00:04:18]  Abby and Nathan and the couple pose for photos, the newborn baby between them.
[00:04:24]  There's cake, gifts, and speeches.
[00:04:28]  This is so wrong.
[00:04:28]  This is like so dark.
[00:04:29]  It's so evil.
[00:04:30]  Like, this ceremony is like a fucking joke.
[00:04:35]  This ceremony, this fucking joke.
[00:04:39]  It's a celebration of something that was part of American life for decades.
[00:04:45]  Back in the 50s and 60s, young women who got pregnant out of wedlock were forced to leave their homes and then secretly place their babies for adoption.
[00:04:58]  But the truth is, it's still happening all over America.
[00:05:04]  And it's all part of a grand plan to reshape the country in God's image.
[00:05:10]  Because the true Christian home that produces successful children must be headed by a godly husband.
[00:05:16]  One man for one woman for one lifetime and no sex, period, outside of marriage.

=== Binge Ad-Free (00:27) ===

[00:05:22]  And to make sure the nation has the right kind of mothers.
[00:05:27]  They all saw how much I loved him.
[00:05:30]  They didn't have to take him from me.
[00:05:32]  They knew I didn't want them to.
[00:05:40]  Binge all episodes of Liberty Lost Early and ad-free on Wondery Plus.