If Melissa Coles hadn’t listened to what a protester outside of an abortion clinic told her, David Scotton wouldn’t be here.
Scotton’s story of retracing the steps from that moment to his present-day quest to find his birth parents is featured in I Lived on Parker Avenue, a movie set for release online and by DVD this March.
Coles and Brian Nicolas—Scotton’s birth father—didn’t feel ready to have a child when Coles became pregnant with David as an 18-year-old in Columbus, Ind., back in 1993. They were both unemployed, and sometimes went an entire day without eating.
Ultimately, they didn’t want David to pay for their life mistakes.
When Coles went to the abortion clinic to abort David, there was a sea of protestors. In the midst of the chaos, Melissa heard one woman say, “That baby has 10 fingers and 10 toes and you’re going to kill it.” Coles went into the abortion clinic, but while she was on the table, she told the doctor, “I can’t do this.”
The doctor rolled his eyes, took off his gloves and walked out.
Thousands of miles away in Metairie, La., Susan Scotton was struggling with tragedy upon tragedy. Susan’s first child died after 12 days, and her second child died at two-and-a-half years old. After she and her first husband divorced, she married Jimmy Scotton and they began looking at adoption after dealing with infertility.
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On Dec. 22, 1993, David was born. It was a day of mixed emotions—Melissa said goodbye to the son she had chosen to give life to, and the Scottons met their new baby boy.
The documentary is about David’s journey from Metairie, La., to Columbus, Ind., to thank his birth parents for choosing life.
Adoption is not an easy path.
David has wrestled with whether the Scottons love him as much as they would have loved a birth son.
Coles and Nicolas are divorced, and Nicolas had wrestled with depression over the guilt of “giving David up” for adoption, not to mention almost aborting him. Coles also struggled with fear of what David was going to feel because of how close she was to aborting him.
David’s journey to meet his birth parents brings love, understanding and forgiveness to David, Coles and Nicolas. David gets to hear from the Scottons that they love him as much as they would if he were their birth son, and tells his Coles and Nicolas about his feelings of gratitude and joy toward them.
Tweet This: @ILivedOnParkerAve shows #adoption is not easy, but is worthwhile. #prolife
“I Lived on Parker Avenue” is a testament to the value of life and the impact one life can have. It shows what David’s life meant not only to him, but to his friends, family and all of his loved ones. It does not shy away from the messiness of adoption, but also shows that choosing life is always worth it and the positive impact the decision of adoption can have.
The film will be released for free online viewing on March 8, 2018, and will also be avaliable for DVD purchase as well. Click here for more details.
