By Chrissy Sanders
As a mom to three boys, Elsa the ice queen just isn’t a big deal in our house. No, the movies in our usual rotation are mostly those involving superheroes, dragons, and lightsabers. However, one movie that I introduced my boys to recently was 1998’s “The Prince of Egypt,” based on the Exodus story. In my opinion, the film is still a masterpiece (even nearly 30 years later), and the opening scene brings me to tears like it never did when I watched it as a child.
In the first seven minutes alone, the hauntingly beautiful song “Deliver Us” swells, and we see a desperate mother place her infant son into a basket and push him forward, into the Nile. She doesn’t know what will become of her baby — only that her sacrifice might save his life. It’s one of the most heart-wrenching acts of courage ever portrayed on screen.
That mother, though her name is never mentioned, changed the course of history. Her son would be discovered and adopted into the Egyptian royal family. He would grow up to become Moses, the deliverer of God’s people, and it all began with his mother’s brave, selfless act of letting go.
When we think about adoption today, it’s common and easy to celebrate the adoptive parents — the families who open their homes and hearts to raise a child as their own. They deserve celebration, without a doubt; but, often overlooked is the quiet heroism of the birth mother — the woman who loves her child so deeply that she chooses to place that child’s needs above her own heartache.
At the Center for Pregnancy Choices Metro Area, we’ve had the honor of walking alongside women who face the same decision in a culture that (like the one in ancient Egypt) encourages murdering babies as a solution.
Adoption is often the road less traveled when facing an unplanned pregnancy. But why is that? Could it be that adoption is sometimes stigmatized? Too often, the narrative frames it as “giving up” a baby, almost suggesting defeat. But what if instead of “giving up,” we spoke of adoption as giving life? It takes extraordinary strength to carry a child, nurture life within you, and then entrust that life to another family. That’s not abandonment — that’s bravery. And the women who make that choice are not weak: They are thoughtful, courageous, and self-sacrificing. They make their decision on the belief that their child deserves every opportunity to flourish, even if it means their own hearts will ache.
The story of Moses reminds us that God works through such acts of faith, and the same God who watched over a baby in a basket still watches over every child and every mother today. He honors the sacrifices of those who trust that He will carry their babies when they cannot. As we celebrate adoption this month, let’s widen our lens. Let’s remember to celebrate the women who choose to do the hardest thing and push their baskets into the water, too.
Chrissy Sanders is communications manager for CPC Metro, where she combines storytelling and multimedia to champion the cause for life. Passionate about apologetics, Chrissy seeks to help others think deeply, love boldly, and see every conversation as an opportunity to point back to the gospel. She and her family live in Clinton, where she graduated from Mississippi College in 2010.