Abortion in America
Forced to leave Texas for abortion care, now one family has a new baby this Christmas
Synopsis
In the span of a single year, Hollie and Cody Cunningham faced the loss of two pregnancies after identical fatal diagnoses. They were forced to leave home and travel out of state because of Texas’ abortion ban. They spoke with Abortion in America in Texas about the challenges of trying to grow a family under these conditions, a journey that, at Thanksgiving, led to the birth of their healthy baby Mylie. Their story has been edited for length and clarity.
Hollie: Early October of 2022, I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant.
December came along and our family and friends had thrown the most beautiful gender reveal party. It was right around Christmas, and we had a white flocked tree wrapped in pink and blue lights. We all counted down, and when Cody pulled the plug to the tree, the pink lights stayed on the tree. That was our reveal of having a little girl.
Cody: It was everything that we hoped and dreamed for. It was an incredible moment.
Hollie: It was an incredible moment for us because this is what we’ve always wanted, to have our two boys and a little girl.
I always knew that when I had a family one day, I wanted a close-knit family. I wanted a lot of kids—I’ve always loved babies, and that’s just what I knew I wanted to do. I wanted to be a teacher, to have babies, to be a mom, and to be a wife.
We knew that we wanted to start a family as soon as we could.
We were blessed with two beautiful boys. Our first son was born in 2017, and we were blessed again with our second son in 2020.
After that, we knew we wanted to continue to grow our family. Our boys wanted a sister, and that was our dream and our goal. But we would’ve been happy with anything—we wanted a healthy baby. That was what was most important.
Then in January 2023, we saw a maternal-fetal medicine doctor at 20 weeks—I was halfway through the pregnancy. We saw 10 toes, 10 fingers, and confirmed again that she was a girl. Her heartbeat looked great, her blood flow looked great.
The sonogram tech made a comment early on that she couldn’t get a clear view of the head and would come back to it. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I knew her head was low, so I thought she was just hiding. The tech did everything she needed to do, then she went back to measure the head.
Then she got silent. That was the moment I knew something was wrong.
Once the doctor came in, he explained how my baby’s brain and skull hadn’t formed or developed as they should. He told me, “I’m sorry. Your baby is incompatible with life.”
She wanted to help me and knew what she needed to do—but she couldn’t do it for me because of the laws in Texas.
Hollie: When those words came out of his mouth, my world was shattered. It was a moment I never thought I would ever be in. I broke down, screaming and crying. Cody was speechless. I think we both just weren’t fully there—we were in shock.
I remember asking that doctor, “Well, what do we do?”
He straight up said to me, “Because of the state laws here in Texas, I can’t tell you what you can or cannot do.”
At that moment, I was shaking. I had no idea what we were going to face.
Cody: We hadn’t gone through something like that before. They had to sneak us out the back because she was hysterical. It was not a good scene. I was trying to hold my breath because I kept gagging, and it felt like I was getting punched in the gut. During our car ride, I had to pull over and throw up, and then we went right to Hollie’s OB-GYN.
Hollie: I had an appointment with her that afternoon. I’ve been with my OB since high school—over 20 years—and she’s like family to me. We went straight to her office, and I’ll never forget walking in. I fell to the ground, and it was like I couldn’t hear anything because I was in such shock.
My doctor and nurse ran out, picked me up off the floor, and just hugged me, crying with me. Who would think that halfway through a pregnancy you’d get a fatal diagnosis? My doctor was so emotional because she wanted to help me and knew what she needed to do—but she couldn’t do it for me because of the laws in Texas.
Hollie: She went over the long list of complications and risks to my health. There was a long list. It was scary. Each day that I was pregnant, my life was at risk.
She also talked about what could happen to our little girl. She may not be born alive, or she may be born alive for a few minutes, maybe for a few hours, but that would be it. She could turn blue, she could suffer, she could be hooked up to morphine. That wasn’t what we wanted.
Cody: There are certain things that I struggle with from the Marine Corps, but take that and amplify it. Imagine holding your baby girl, watching her turn black and blue, watching her bleed from the eyes, watching her take her last breath. That would kill me.
Hollie: My OB-GYN talked about the risks to my life and what could happen to the baby. At that moment, I didn’t know the laws in Texas. I didn’t realize my doctor couldn’t do anything—a D&C is an abortion. I just thought she could take care of me. She wanted to so badly, but her hands were tied.
I remember my doctor telling me, “As long as your baby has a beating heart, there’s nothing I can do for you.”
Hollie: We knew the other option was to get an abortion out of state.
Cody: We were right on the cusp of not being able to do it and being forced to deliver full-term.
Hollie: We had to figure out childcare for our kids back at home. We told our boys I was going on a “work trip” with Daddy—we didn’t know what to tell the boys at that time. We had to get airfare, a rental car, a hotel, and make an appointment at the clinic. Because I was so far along, it was a two-day procedure for me. It was a big financial burden, insurance didn’t cover a penny.
We easily spent over $10,000 on the abortion and travel that we had to do for our baby girl.
My husband is a Marine veteran, he fought for all of our freedom, and it felt like my freedom was taken from me.
Hollie: It happened to me again that same year. When we got that diagnosed a second time, my world just stopped.
They say if you have a baby with anencephaly, your chance of having another one with anencephaly goes up, but never in a million years did I think that this would happen to me again.
When I got that diagnosis, I went straight to a dark place, reliving the trauma that I had to go through.
Every pregnancy is different; they’re unpredictable. I’ve learned that a healthy pregnancy isn’t guaranteed until that baby is born and in your arms, crying. We’ve had to learn that the hard way.
Cody: Being a marine and being a dad both require a lot of discipline, because in life, anything can happen, right? You have to pivot on a dime, no matter what it is. As a marine, you prevail, you power through, and you have to do what you have to do for your unit. It’s the same in a family.
It’s amazing that we’re even here. Every day throughout a pregnancy, the fetus is constantly changing, and things could still go wrong. We’re walking miracles.
Hollie: I called Texas my home, but when I found out that Texas didn’t have my back, I questioned if this was my home. My husband is a Marine veteran, he fought for all of our freedom, and it felt like my freedom was taken from me.
I felt helpless. I didn’t get the help I needed here. Texas made me leave my home state to get the care I needed. It was basic medical care–that’s all I needed—but Texas would not help me.
Cody: Having a Marine mindset, I fought for my country. That’s what we’re fighting for now too. We want our rights back, because this could happen to anybody.
We’re grateful for our miracle, and we’re excited for what’s to come.
Hollie: We’ve been on quite a journey trying to grow our family, and we’ve faced many storms along the way. But like they say, after every storm there’s a rainbow, and we are currently expecting our true miracle. We have a little girl on the way.
It’s been scary. I know a lot more now, both medically and legally, because of what we’ve lived through. My anxiety is high, but I’m trying to stay hopeful and positive every single day for this little miracle. She truly is a gift from God.
Cody: Our quadruple rainbow, believe it or not. We’ve gone through the ringer, and at the same time, we’re blessed. We’re grateful for our miracle, and excited for what’s to come.
Hollie: She’s due right before Thanksgiving, so we have so much to be thankful for this year.
Editor’s note: Since the filming of their story, Hollie and Cody have given birth to a healthy baby girl, Mylie.
Forced to leave Texas for abortion care, now one family has a new baby this Christmas
I’m a Texan. But I don’t know if I can be a Texas OB-GYN
