Country star Jay DeMarcus was forced to abandon the idea of becoming a young father after an ex-girlfriend gave up their baby for adoption.
The Rascal Flatts bassist has gone public with his personal heartache in his new memoir, Shotgun Angels: My Story of Broken Roads and Unshakeable Hope, explaining he was in his early 20s when the condom broke the first time he and his then-partner, Maggie, had sex.
The couple was "in shock" when the pregnancy test came back positive, but while DeMarcus was open to raising the child, a girl, Maggie had other ideas.
"(Maggie and I) discussed many options, including getting married and raising the child ourselves, but we quickly determined we'd be making that decision for the wrong reason. Abortion was never an option, so we began to discuss adoption," DeMarcus explains.
"It became evident that Maggie wanted nothing to do with me. There was no interest in the two of us somehow working things out so we might raise our child together."
The musician's mother offered to take in the baby as her own, but Maggie instead decided to put the tot up for outside adoption - and he had no choice in the matter, as per Tennessee state law.
Now 48, he doesn't blame his ex for her actions, but he regrets not having the opportunity to get to know his firstborn.
DeMarcus shares, "From the very beginning, I wanted to be in (my baby's) life. But her mother, Maggie, didn't want either one of us in her life. That was a hard pill to swallow.
"I understand that sometimes life sends us reeling because of unexpected situations. But my heart in that moment, though scared, still desired to be in this beautiful child's life."
At the time, DeMarcus had been one half of Christian duo East to West with Neal Coomer, but the baby news spelled the end of the band, as the religious community virtually shut him out.
The experience led DeMarcus to question his faith, but he didn't turn his back on Christianity, and went on to find success with his Rascal Flatts bandmates Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney.
He has also since become a father-of-two, welcoming daughter Madeline, eight, and six-year-old son Dylan with his wife Allison Alderson, whom he wed in 2004.
