TOPEKA — The father of Cecilia Douglass’ son abandoned her in 2017 when she was five months pregnant, leaving her with his massive debt.
The Garden City mother, who also had two daughters, had accepted a job that didn’t pay much but offered flexibility for attending doctor’s appointments.
“Losing that second income did not leave me a lot of options to provide for my family, let alone taking care of myself,” Douglass said. “My health was failing during that pregnancy. I relied heavily on peanut butter sandwiches and Ensure shakes during the pregnancy with my son because unfortunately we were very limited financially.”