Toni Braxton Once Thought God Gave Her Son Autism Due to Abortion

Toni Braxton is brutally honest about her darkest moments in new memoir Unbreak My Heart.

The singer, 46, writes about her 11-year-old son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, who is autistic. The Grammy winner reveals she once believed that Diezel's autism was a punishment from God — a retaliation of sorts for Braxton's decision to have an abortion in 2001. (Thirteen years ago, Braxton terminated a pregnancy after conceiving a child with ex Keri Lewis.)

Because of her deeply religious upbringing, Braxton suffered great guilt over the going through with the procedure.

"I was suddenly faced with a choice I'd never thought I'd have to make," the songstress writes, "Amid my major misgivings about abortion, I eventually made the gut-wrenching decision."

Braxton continued: "In my heart, I believed I had taken a life — an action that I thought God might one day punish me for … My initial rage was quickly followed by another strong emotion: guilt. I knew I'd taken a life … I believed God's payback was to give my son autism."

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The Braxton Family Values star has since had a change of heart about that painful memory.

Braxton explains to Us Weekly: “Coming from a very religious background, I was ashamed that I had an abortion in 2001. When my youngest son was diagnosed with Autism I feared that I was being punished for my earlier actions. I have since realized that my son is special and learns in a different way.”

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