Analyn Megison could remember smelling her own blood as she fought off her attacker. The law school graduate was 29 years old when she was beaten and raped until she fell unconscious. The attack, committed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2003, was just the beginning of the assault.
Days later, Megison discovered she was pregnant. People she turned to for help immediately pressured her to abort or put her baby up for adoption. She resisted, and her daughter is now 10 years old. For Megison, being a mother has breathed love and optimism back into her life, helping her to move forward from that harrowing night.
But a few years ago in Florida, where Megison and her daughter moved after Hurricane Katrina ravaged Louisiana in 2005, the now 40-year-old mother was forced to relive the nightmare. Her rapist had tracked her down and filed for joint custody of her child. At the time the case began in 2010, Florida was among a number of states that had no laws stopping even convicted rapists from receiving parental rights of the children born out of their crime.
"It can't get any more intimidating than somebody trying to take or harm, or do something to your child," Megison told VICE News. "That's more difficult than facing any harm to yourself for many parents. You can chew me up and cut me into bits and pieces, but not my child."
[For more of this story, written by Liz Fields, go to https://news.vice.com/article/these-women-became-pregnant-from-rape-then-fought-their-attackers-for-custody]
Comments (0)