Forced to give birth at 14, her Christian fundamentalist family treated her baby as a 'curse'

“I was raised being told I’d never see Heaven, and was going directly to hell for being born out of wedlock at a young age. All the other youth knew it. When the Pastor preached about the horrors of what happened in Hell, I would sit in the pew pale and full of horror. I developed eating problems and was diagnosed with stomach ulcers at age 8 (received no treatment of course after diagnoses. Was a common theme for the bastard child.) All I could think about was I was destined to go to this awful place where worms would eat me alive for all eternity. I was over run with anxiety. I would wake up every morning thinking about how I was getting closer and closer to the day I’d never see my family again and the devil would take me.”

As Rinlian grew older, the social stigma that resulted from her mother’s pregnancy was unescapable. Her mere existence was a “bad influence” on other children, causing their parents to forbid their children to associate with her.