Love at First Sight

By Anne McGuire

A week ago I saw what must be the sweetest face I’ve ever seen. It was the face of my first nephew, who is due to be born in a few months – the first of his generation in my immediate family. A couple of weeks ago, my sister sent a generic video clip about Baby’s development, and the thumbnail image gave me pause. It showed the face of a sleeping unborn child. I must have seen hundreds of images like this already, but given the context, it affected me differently. As obvious as it may sound, it suddenly hit me that my nephew has a face. A week later we learned that Baby is “he,” and I was able to see the ultrasound of his face, which already has adorably discernible features.

I studied a bit of human embryology in college, and I’ve known many pregnant women.  Even so, I continue to find myself in wonder as I see pictures of the newest members of my friends’ families on Facebook or meet them face to face. Can it be that these… whole, complete, entirely new people were just there, hidden inside their mothers? Now you see them, now you don’t (or vice versa, that is). Of course the answer is “yes,” and yet I find myself trying to wrap my mind around this incredible reality when faced with it in my own life.   

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 Anne McGuire is Special Projects Coordinator for the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. For more information on the bishops' pro-life activities, please visit www.usccb.org/prolife.