Brandi Geiger was a senior in high school when she met her boyfriend. After graduation, the couple decided to share an apartment together — a decision that disturbed Geiger’s parents. Not only did they see it as immoral, but they just didn’t feel right about him. Their instincts would prove right, as Geiger would soon realize.
Geiger told Live Action News, “I was raised in the church, so it was concerning to my parents that I live with a man without marriage. He was also abusive. The red flags were there, but I chose to ignore them. When we moved in together, he escalated the emotional abuse and even began hitting me. That’s when I decided to break up with him and move out.”
Violent rape results in an unplanned pregnancy
But her boyfriend wasn’t going to let go easily. He lured Geiger back to his mother’s house where he had moved, with the excuse that they needed to go over a few outstanding bills. Geiger’s mother cautioned her against meeting him alone, but Geiger didn’t heed her advice.
“When I arrived at his mother’s house, he immediately grabbed my keys and threw them on the ground,” Geiger said.” It was dark so I couldn’t find them. He dragged me into the house, locked the door and assaulted me.”
Once the attack was over, he allowed Geiger to leave. She crawled frantically around the ground, searching for her keys, praying fervently.
Geiger said, “I found my keys, praise God, and was able to get out of there. I told nobody about the rape because I was so ashamed and felt it was all my fault.”
A month later, Geiger started feeling unwell, prompting her to come clean with her mother. A store-bought pregnancy test yielded a positive result. Scared and unsure what to do, Geiger and her mother went to Planned Parenthood seeking solutions. But the staff at Planned Parenthood had no interest in discussing options. Geiger was put into a room and told they would come back to schedule her abortion.
“Thank God I had my mother with me, because I looked at her and told her I didn’t want to have an abortion,” Geiger said. “We got out of there.”
When Geiger arrived home, she went into her bedroom and cried out to the Lord, and felt that He was “almost audibly” leading her toward adoption.
Choosing adoption is an answer to a couple’s prayers
She reached out to her pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church who got her in touch with Lutheran Social Services, and the adoption process was set into motion. Geiger wanted to pick the family who would raise her child. She selected three, but the first family she met insisted they would not tell her baby she was adopted. Geiger moved on and met with another family. She knew almost immediately they were the right couple.
“There was just something about them, almost as if a light shone over them,” Geiger said. “They had adopted a boy and were thrilled to find out I was carrying a girl. They had prayed for this for years.”
When her baby was born, Geiger fell in love with her. She was allowed to have three days to spend with her. She invited the adoptive parents to the hospital and they, too, fell in love with their baby girl, whom they named Kelsey Dawn.
Geiger said, “It was hard to let her go. I was wheeled out of the hospital at the same time another woman cradling her baby. It was only with God’s help I was able to do this.”
But the transition wouldn’t go as smoothly as Geiger anticipated. Though Geiger had filed a protection order against her former boyfriend, his mother was fighting for custody of the baby girl. Geiger’s baby was transferred to the state and was placed in a foster home for close to two months until the court case was finally settled.
“The judge heard about the abuse and took away any rights [the biological father’s family] would have,” Geiger said. “My baby was finally released from foster care” and went to live with the adoptive parents.
Years afterward, Geiger was married with two sons and teaching — a dream she had had since she was a young girl. She told her young sons about their sister. For three years, she had received letters through the adoption agency from the couple who adopted Kelsey. Though she didn’t have contact with her, that would one day change.
Geiger said, “I was telling my story to a co-worker who worked with all the employees in our school district. I showed her a picture of Kelsey and her family that I kept with me. She told me that [the adoptive mother] worked in our school district. I couldn’t believe it! I emailed [Kelsey’s adoptive mother] and gave her my number.”
“One day, I was leading a professional development program for the district when [Kelsey’s adoptive mom] stopped by and recognized me,” Geiger said. “I didn’t see her right away. She had been checking around about me to make sure I was a ‘good person,’ but didn’t know how to reach out to me.”
Kelsey was now a junior in high school, and her adoptive mom invited Geiger to see Kelsey cheer at football games. She couldn’t meet Kelsey, though, until Kelsey turned 18 — a wish that Kelsey had expressed. When Geiger saw Kelsey talking to a woman sitting beside her in the stands, she bent over and cried.
Geiger said, “I was close to her for the first time since giving birth to her. It was so emotional. Her mother set up a meeting for us a month after Kelsey turned 18 and we met at Panera Bread.” At the meeting, mother and daughter stared at each other for the longest moment until Kelsey asked Geiger if she ever thought of her.
“I told her, ‘every single day,’” Geiger said. “We laughed, we talked, and she told me she was good friends with a boy who had me as a teacher. He had always told her that she reminded him of me.”
Today, Kelsey is a physical therapist and is married.
Geiger said, “Her baby has a dimple on the chin just like I do. God is so good. I’m glad I listened when He told me there was a family praying for a baby.”
[Editor’s note: This story originally was published by Live Action News.]
