A Kentucky couple has decided to “attempt something big” to stop abortion.
After watching controversial videos of Planned Parenthood executives, Kevin and Nicole Cook decided they wanted to adopt a child whose biological mother considered abortion.
Two years ago, the couple suffered a miscarriage. They have struggled with infertility ever since.
In an interview with The Daily Signal, Kevin and Nicole said they were “heartbroken” when they watched the undercover videos that were released this summer.
They said it was particularly difficult to watch the fourth undercover video released by the Center for Medical Progress, in which actors portraying buyers from a human biologics company were taken into a Planned Parenthood clinic’s pathological laboratory to observe the “quality” of the “specimens” that were available that day.
The videos raised allegations that Planned Parenthood is selling the body parts of aborted babies to researchers for profit. Profiting from the sale of human body parts, including those of the unborn, is a felony in the United States. Spokespersons for Planned Parenthood have denied illegal conduct.
The couple, still mourning the loss of their child, was horrified by what they saw in the video.
Nicole said she will never understand how someone could be so “nonchalant about killing a baby.”
“What was so hard was, from the moment we found out we were pregnant, that was our child, a gift from God,” Nicole said.
Nicole said that the child in the video was probably older than the child they lost.
“That’s an arm, that’s a leg, that’s a baby,” Nicole said. “How could anyone look at life so carelessly? You have no idea what we would give to have our child with us today.”
Nicole said the video and the issue of abortion are especially heartbreaking because she knows “that we would welcome that child into our arms, into our hearts and into our home.”
Kevin and Nicole said they felt called to adopt in response.
“The Lord really put on our hearts the idea of adoption as a means to stop abortion,” Kevin said.
Kevin, a student at Asbury Theological Seminary, said they were inspired by his school’s #attemptsomethingBIG campaign, an effort to “show how people are doing things for Jesus.”
“The way I took that is, it’s a challenge to do something that—unless God intervenes—would be impossible,” Kevin said.
Kevin and Nicole approached several adoption agencies and told them that they wanted to adopt a child whose biological mother contemplated abortion. But the agencies told them they didn’t have a way of determining that information or keeping it on record.
So Kevin and Nicole decided to make their desire to adopt known at a pro-life protest.
Outside of an abortion facility in Lexington, Kentucky, in October, Kevin and Nicole held signs that read “God loves you and your baby” and “Please don’t abort…we will adopt your baby. Come talk to us!”
Before they went home, they shared a photo of themselves with the signs online.
“It just blew up from there,” Kevin said.
Kevin and Nicole said they have received thousands of messages of encouragement, of solidarity from couples facing similar struggles, and from pregnant mothers looking to put their children up for adoption.
The couple said that so far, for various reasons, they haven’t found a match.
“We’re still actively seeking the opportunity to save a life,” Kevin said.
He said he and Nicole have been criticized in some messages for not adopting from the foster care system or an orphan who has already been born.
“We’re open to that,” Kevin said. “We want a big family. But right now, God has put on our hearts ending abortion.”
You can read more about Kevin and Nicole’s adoption journey on Kevin’s blog.
It’s not a fetus. It’s a blessing. Life matters. http://t.co/ImncEuX7I8 #AnotherBoy #lifematters
— Kevin Cook (@kevingarycook) July 31, 2015