Скачать или смотреть The Mormon Church Made Me Give Up My Baby w/ Myndee Tollefson | Ep. 2047

Join us today for a unique Mormon Stories episode that is the first of its kind. Myndee Tollefson was born in Bountiful, Utah to an orthodox Mormon family. At just 19, she became pregnant and, feeling immense pressure from the Church and her family, gave her baby up for adoption through LDS Family Services—only to later discover that her child's life in the adoptive family was not what the Church promised.

Topics include:
-Toxicity of purity culture
-Unplanned pregnancy in Mormonism
-Harsh backlash from her family and LDS community
-Adoption within the LDS Family services program
-The church's role in facilitating and encouraging adoption
-Being a "birth mom"
-Troubled teen culture within Mormonism

Her story sheds light on the emotional and spiritual costs of institutional coercion, and the healing that comes with breaking free from this control. 

Show notes can be found on the Mormon Stories blog here: https://www.mormonstories.org/the-mor...

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:03:01 Myndee’s intention
00:05:44 Myndee’s Mormon story begins - born in Bountiful, Utah
00:12:08 Experienced sexual abuse by someone she was supposed to trust, couldnt tell anyone
00:23:53 Working with LDS church services about her abuse
00:29:30 Her patriarchal blessing made her feel like God didn’t see her
00:38:21 Found out she was pregnant
00:43:12 Telling her parents she was pregnant
00:52:09 An Ensign article with advice on unwed parents framed her decision
01:11:15 Going into worthiness interviews with her boyfriend
01:16:10 Was disfellowshipped
01:27:46 Discussion of LDS family services
01:32:01 What is a closed vs open adoption?
01:43:02 What it was like carrying a baby she knew she would have to give up
01:56:56:47 Her final day with her baby
02:09:56 John discussing why it could be unethical for a church to arrange adoptions
02:12:53 The church quietly stopped doing adoptions in 2014
02:35:06 Myndee and Troy had two daughters together
02:39:10 Troy took an evolution class and decided he believed in evolution
02:44:02 They move to Tampa, Florida for Troy’s job as an animal nutritionist
02:50:59 A close friend of hers left the church, and shared a lot of resources with her
02:58:02 Was contacted by her daughter for the first time in 2016
03:00:47 Going to meet her daughter for the first time
03:06:17 She found out her daughter had been placed in two separate facilities from 10-14 where she was abused
03:14:36 Her daughter was living a life of uncertainty & ran away at 14 years old
03:27:29 The adoptive mother dropped her back at the facility and abandoned her
03:54:05 Struggling to balance the relationships with all of her daughters - she was so focused on helping her oldest
04:01:32 They were estranged from 2018-2020
04:07:35 Began to realize that the church was making her more anxious
04:11:05 Her youngest daughter comes out as queer
04:28:19 Her faith deconstruction has strengthened all the relationships in her family
04:34:10 Call for other birth moms to reach out and share their stories as well
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At Mormon Stories we explore, celebrate, and challenge Mormon culture through in-depth stories told by members and former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as scholars, authors, LDS apologists, and other professionals.

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1. Facilitate informed consent amongst LDS Church members, investigators, and non-members regarding Mormon history, doctrine, and theology
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3. Promote healing, growth and community for those who choose to leave the LDS Church or other high demand religions

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