Toni Braxton Thought Son's Autism Was Her Punishment From God

Covering lots of topics in her new memoir, the singer highlighted the moment she felt she was punished by God for aborting a baby.

  

Toni Braxton said her son's autism was a punishment from God. In her new memoir "Unbreak My Heart", the Grammy-winning singer stole the attention when talking about her son's autism and the abortion she had in 2001.

When writing about her 11-year-old son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, Braxton recalled the moment she thought contributed to his autism. Thirteen years ago, she had an abortion when she fell pregnant with then-boyfriend Keri Lewis. She said she was on the prescription acne medication Accutane at the time, which can cause fetal birth defects.

Having religious upbringing, the singer was ridden with guilt. "I was suddenly faced with a choice I'd never thought I'd have to make," she wrote, "Amid my major misgivings about abortion, I eventually made the gut-wrenching decision."

She 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."

In her memoir, Braxton also covered the topic that has been a controversy in medical world. "Maybe it's just a coincidence that after my son's first MMR vaccine, I began to notice changes in him," she wrote, noting that Diezel was communicating differently before she brought him to the hospital.