Maya Seay wasn’t allowed to drink Starbucks like her friends growing up and she never knew why. One day, when she was finally old enough to understand, her parents explained to her that the ubiquitous coffee company supports Planned Parenthood and that her parents didn’t agree with how the organization treated women and their babies.
Maya, who is now 11 years old, was disappointed that she couldn’t enjoy the tasty treat, but she took on her parents’ beliefs after watching the 2019 film “Unplanned,” and because she has a special gift for caring for babies. Her mother, Maria, has seen her daughter as she serves in the nursery at church on Sundays and has fond memories of her as a little girl going out of her way to care for ones littler than herself.
“Maya, since she was a baby, she always cares for babies,” Maria said as she reflected on a memory of when Maya was a toddler at the playground and she stopped running around with her friends to protect a baby boy sitting nearby to make sure he didn’t get run over.
Maya and her mother found out about Save the Storks because they did research to find organizations besides Planned Parenthood that gave women information about their pregnancies. Maya is Miss Colorado Pre-Teen and has fulfilled her service hours for the National American Miss pageant by raising awareness and funds for Save the Storks.
“When I learned about Save the Storks and learned how I could make a difference in the world, it wasn’t really a second thought in my mind to be able to speak out about it,” she said. “I know sometimes it can be difficult because people will tear you down and tell you that you’re wrong. But I think that it’s just God really and how He made me confident and not afraid to speak out on my thoughts and I don’t really care what people think that much about me. So I think that’s what helps because I don’t let people’s opinions of me tear me down because I know who I am.
“And I want babies to be able to know who they are and get to grow up and know and find themselves and find their style of dress and find a best friend and have a first crush and go through all the things that every human deserves to go through.”
Maya’s friend Bria is adopted from India and, along with their other friend, Lydia, they created Youth For Truth to help women learn about pregnancy resources. Maya finds much joy in lovingly sharing the truth of how women have more options than abortion.
“[My friends and I] talk about how amazing it is that Bria got adopted into an amazing home with amazing parents,” Maya says, “and that if her mom aborted her then she never would have had this opportunity to be able to live a good life in a good country with a good education.”
Maya herself was born when her mother chose life. From early ultrasounds, it appeared that there was a possibility Maya would have Down syndrome. Maya didn’t end up having the genetic disorder — and her family would have carried through with the pregnancy regardless — but the choice of abortion is very real as it’s estimated 67% of pregnancies that might have Down syndrome are terminated.
“It was pretty sad that some moms, their babies didn’t even have Down syndrome, but they still aborted them,” Maya said, “and even if they did have Down syndrome, they would have never known what it was like to have a child because they thought that it would be hard to raise a child with Down syndrome or any type of anything hard to deal with.”
Maria was not always Pro-Life and, before she was a mother, even took some women to Planned Parenthood to have abortions because she didn’t think anything of it.
“Before I was saved, I was Pro-Choice because the media, everything tells you that if you have an abortion before the baby’s three months, you’re fine, no problem,” Maria shared. “I have no idea where that thought came from. I was ignorant. I think a lot of girls are ignorant. That’s why they choose an abortion because they don’t know.”
Maria’s beliefs were radically changed when Maya came into the picture.
“When I was pregnant, I still was Pro-Choice,” she said. “When I saw reality is when I saw the ultrasound at nine weeks, and I saw the heartbeat that’s when I realize how amazing life is.”
That life became a beautiful, bubbly little girl who is a singer and dancer with aspirations of making it to the Top 5 of the National American Miss pageant this month. But beyond that, she hopes to be a triple threat, gracing Broadway stages and the silver screen with a message of love.
“I want to be able to care for a lot of people even if I don’t know them,” Maya said. “I want them to know that they’re special and they’re loved. So that especially is why one of the reasons I actually want to win Nationals is so that I can talk about how you’re loved and how God loves you and just how appreciated you are.”
