Shari Richard,R.T.,R.D.M.S. Founder of Sound Wave Imagaes
2422 Harness Drive, West Bloomfiled, MI 48324
248-360-0743
Shari is an Obstetrical Ultrasound Expert and Educator whose medical experience spans 27 years. She is the founder of Sound Wave Images through which she produced the videos Ultrasound: “A Window to the Womb” & “Eyewitness to the Earliest Days of Life.” Her ultrasound footage has educated millions on the humanity of the unborn as it has been distributed and translated world wide. She has testified in U.S. Congress and provided presentations to over 5000 schools which has succeeded in reducing teen pregnancy, abortions and sexual activity. Shari has provided over 500 ultrasound exams for Pregnancy Centers in Michigan and claims 90% “Chose Life.” She is now implementing her success and ultrasound service nationally through providing The Imaging Network Ultrasound Manual and One Week Training designed to train medical personnel and pregnancy centers on how to provide a limited ultrasound service for their clients. As a result of Shari’s personal grief of abortion she has committed her gift of ultrasound to display the humanity of the unborn and to share God’s grace and love to change and heal hearts.
My name is Shari Richard and I am a registered Obstetrical ultrasonographer. I have been empowered with the greatest tool that shows the truth of life in the womb! “is that my baby?"...”I can’t believe how developed my baby is!”... “Why didn’t someone tell me?”... “ They told me it was a blob of tissue.”… “Women need to be informed.”
These are the words from mothers, fathers, parents, student’s teachers, legislators, pastors and voices around the world that have seen and been educated with the Truth through ultrasound. What a joy it is to watch the expressions of awe and excitement on the faces of my audience as I introduced the mothers to their babies. As a result of my professional knowledge and personal experience of two abortions, I have dedicated my life in helping women and their babies. I formed Sound Wave Images to use my professional ultrasound expertise to provide “a window to the womb”, to display the scientific evidence of life and provide information to women. From my own static’s and other Pregnancy Centers of a 75-90% decrease rate in abortion, I know the most effective means of reducing crises pregnancies and abortion is through providing factual, educational resources and networking with the medical and other support groups to provide for the needs of women.
In 1974, at the age of 18, I had my first abortion. The physician assured me that it was just a ‘blob of tissue” and the procedure would be safe and painless. During my lunch hour, this doctor proceeded to suck out the content of my uterus. No anesthetic was administered. When I cried out in pain, he yelled at me and called three nurses to hold me down. Later I suffered from severe abdominal pain, high fever and hemorrhaging. Week’s passed before I recovered from the severe infection and physical complications, but in my mind, I felt no guilt. After all, it was only a blob of tissue that interfered with my chosen lifestyle.
The wall of denial that I had valiantly built around me began to crumble in 1978. A physician and ultrasound confirmed that I was pregnant. This time it wasn’t a baby but a hydatidiform mole, a large tumor of blood growing at three times the rate of a normal pregnancy. The tumor ruptured while working in the hospital. A blood transfusion saved my life, but the tumor was cancerous. A hysterectomy was advised. I could not hold back the emotions any longer and I began to cry buckets of tears. “Will I ever have a baby? Am I going to die? Will you forgive me?” I asked my mother.
A second opinion proved that the initial surgery had successfully removed the cancerous mole, but the physician informed me that I would not be able to conceive due to my history of the abortion complication of infection and perforated uterus.
In 1981, I began ultrasound training. As I performed my first ultrasound exam on a nine-week pregnant woman, the screen revealed an image of a fully formed, active, tiny human baby. The fetus jumped and I could identify the beating heart, fingers, toes and eyes.
This day of revelation was like a slap in the face. In that ultrasound image of a nine-week-old baby I saw a reflection of my past. The “blobs of tissue’ that I thought I had aborted were actually my own living babies that now I could not conceive. No longer could I hide behind my wall of denial because I had seen the truth. My emotions of shame and guilt turned to anger and rage over the lies that I had been callously fed to me for so many years.
As I continued my medical career, I was instructed to turn the ultrasound monitor way from women considering an abortion. I was told that the moving image of the fetus should not “influence her choice.” So many people had lied to me and now they were asking me to lie as well. My heart would not allow me to hide the truth. In an effort to save the babies and prevent mothers from experiencing the pain I knew, I let each woman see her child on the ultrasound screen. Time after time, a woman who was considering an abortion changed her mind.
I was daily reminded of my own abortions as I performed the ultrasounds. I tried to rebuild my wall of denial to relieve my pain, but the truth seen on the ultrasound prevented me from going back to that secret hiding place. I was angry at the medical profession, government and society who encouraged my abortions and who were deliberately deceiving woman. I felt unable to love myself and nights were filled with haunting dreams. During waking hours, I would fluctuate between fits of rage, grief and hostility. I sought counseling through the church and medical sources but sadly these institutions did not know to counsel women suffering from what we know today as post abortion syndrome.
As a last resort I cried out for God to forgive me and heal my broken heart and womb so that I could be a mother. I cried out to be used to prevent women from going down the road of hopelessness and remorse that I had experienced. It was that same month that I conceived the first of my three boys. Today Mathew (20), Jeff (18) and Danny (17) are my greatest miracles. Motherhood is my greatest experience of true love. And life that is rooted deep within my soul.
I have witnessed with joy, the many testimonies of babies saved but also have seen the tears and pain of both woman and men as they are confronted with the truth. Families in America are in need of healing. After 32 years we must revaluate the Roe v Wade based on the new scientific technology of ultrasound and the long term physical and emotional effects of our society. It is time for the world to understand how abortion affects women and families and it is time to “Be silent No More.” It is time for a new day that can begin the journey back from death to life, from pain to healing and from denial to purpose.