Pattie Mallette: Why She Chose Not To Abort Justin Bieber At 17

In an interview with TODAY’s Kathie Lee Gifford, Justin Bieber’s mother, Pattie Mallette, opened up about some difficult circumstances and decisions that she had to make when she was teenage girl.

According to TODAY, Mallette suffered sexual abuse prior to becoming pregnant with Justin Bieber. This is a subject that she discusses in her new book, “Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber’s Mom.”

“I’ve learned it’s normal and natural for anybody who’s been through sexual abuse to carry that shame and that blame and feel like there’s something wrong with you. So I definitely carried that,” Mallette told Gifford.

Mallette then told Gifford that the shame of the sexual abuse was so much that she even tried to kill herself.

The suicide attempt was a “a culmination of, you know, built up over the years with the abuse and the pain and at the time I was messed up with all the drugs and alcohol. I was in a depression and the drugs and alcohol kind of spurred that on some more.”

Mallette became pregnant with Justin at the age of 17 and was greatly encouraged to abort the baby at the time. However, aborting the unborn child was an option that she could not consider.

“I just knew I couldn’t. I just knew I couldn’t. I just know I had to keep him,” she told Gifford. “And, do the best. I — you know, I didn’t know how I was going to do it. But I just knew that I couldn’t — I couldn’t abort. I had to do my best. I had to see what I could do. And I was determined to do whatever it took.”

Mallette then proceeded to tell Gifford on how she felt when she first heard Justin cry:

“I know this sounds crazy, but he sounded like he was singing. He did,” she said. “It was like this, like, ‘A hah, a hah.’ And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, it is so precious and amazing. I just want to squeeze him.”

The full length interview with Gifford will air on Sept. 18 and 19 on TODAY.