Sexual Assault, Adoption, and Homecoming Queen

Molly Anne Dutton was crowned Auburn University’s homecoming queen on Saturday.  More importantly, she was actually the 100th homecoming queen for Auburn University and was crowned by the Governor of Alabama and the President of Auburn University.  But the amazing thing about all this is Molly’s personal story of how this all came to be.

Twenty-two years ago Molly’s birth mother was sexually assaulted and became pregnant from that assault. When she told her husband of the assault pregnancy, he gave her only one choice – get an abortion or get a divorce.

Faced with this awful choice, Molly’s mother didn’t do what most women would have done. She made the brave choice to deliver her baby and place her for adoption. Her mother traveled from California to Alabama and sought the help of an adoption agency called Lifeline’s Children Services. There, Molly’s mom met Peggy Dutton, who served on the board of directors of Lifeline’s Children Services, and Peggy would become Molly’s adoptive mom. Just two days after birth Molly was adopted by the Duttons and grew up in a family of six children, four of whom were adopted.

When friends encouraged Molly to run for homecoming queen, she originally planned to have her platform in her major, horticulture. As she thought about it, however, she decided she wanted to do something that would really impact lives, and that’s where her Light Up Life platform was born.

By sharing the difficulties faced by her biological mother and the help she received which allowed Molly to come into this world, Molly is using her own experience to provide awareness and education on all the possibilities available to women and girls facing unplanned pregnancies.

Molly has shown the world that she is a beautiful young college student who plans to pursue a master’s degree, but she is far more than that. Through her YouTube video, her T-shirts, her speeches, and her bright positive attitude, she is showing the world that she is beautiful inside as well as out.

Molly had no idea how large her campaign would become, but she couldn’t be happier. She has been interviewed by national media and the support on campus is enormous. She is using all her publicity to raise funds for the adoption agency that helped her and her mom 22 years ago.

Molly says her story is a voice for the voiceless and is honored to tell it.