Unfit: The Tale of One Pregnant Teen in the Bible Belt Before Women Had Choice

by Lani Jo Leigh

It was the Age of Aquarius and a time of sexual freedom, but in Oklahoma sex, drugs and rock & roll were still the devil’s handiwork. In the repressed fundamentalist culture of her small hometown, 16-year-old Lani Jo struggled with the “sin” of her sexuality. When she learned that she was pregnant, she was given one option—banishment to a maternity home in New Orleans. While most girls were sent away for the third trimester, Lani Jo spent six months at Sellers Baptist Home for Unwed Mothers. Unfit tells the story of her time there—a time of despair, rage, betrayal, and abandonment. With twenty-four high school and college age girls residing at the Home at any one time, it is also the story of friendship and genuine caring written with humor and pathos. Lani Jo always imagined a different ending to her story—a way she could keep her baby—but Hollywood endings are hard to come by. A week after giving birth, she relinquished her son, Bo, for adoption and returned home alone. With no emotional support, she was told to act as if “nothing had ever happened.” But that was an impossible ask. The agonizing pain she felt from losing her son and the longing to find and know him never left her heart, mind or spirit. It sapped much of the color out of everything that followed. In the decades between World War II and Roe v. Wade, an astounding 1.5 million girls and young women were sent to maternity homes and coerced into relinquishing their babies. Now that women’s reproductive rights are once again fueling a divisive national debate, Unfit provides a poignant, heartbreaking and personal look into our nation’s grim history when abortion was illegal, sex education was almost non-existent, and birth control was tightly restricted.

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 10, 2019

Reviews

[Debbie Deutsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Read

Thank you for sharing this difficult part of your life. It's horrible how women have always been treated regarding pregnancy and maybe one day the men will all be held 100% accountable as well.

[Anna Whitehouse-Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully written book by an amazing and inspiring author. Lani Jo’s story is an inspiring look into a period of American history that is seldom told. This book captured my attention and I finished it in a matter of days. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in women’s rights, southern culture, or overlooked American history.

[Tracey Bishard Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Great read. Makes you thankful for understanding parents now. The struggles she went through were heart breaking. But the friends she found through it all was a godsend

[Jessica Sand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reads like a novel, this true story of teen pregnancy in the sixties and the maternity home/forced adoption experience of a young lady from the south explores the feelings of love and loss, and friendship experienced by the author.

[Samantha Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author graciously welcomed us into her story. She clearly still has a way with words. No big baddie to root against... it was just the system and customs that caused her heartache.