Brooke High and Billy High spend time resting in bed while their twins, Kendall and Olivia, nap at home in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. When their story first came out, politicians and advocates on both sides used their story to support their own viewpoints. “It doesn’t make sense to me that we would be that shining example [for antiabortion advocates],” she said. Their lives are, as she put it, “so imperfect.”Brooke likes to read fantasy novels to escape the stresses of her life. Meanwhile, Billy watches skateboarding videos on his phone in his spare time. Brooke appreciates when they have a quiet moment rather than filling it with arguments or chores. Brooke and Billy married and Billy joined the military when she couldn’t get an abortion in Texas. The closest clinic that could have given her an abortion was a 13-hour drive away in New Mexico.Brooke High found out she was pregnant two days before the Texas Heartbeat Act went into effect, which banned abortions after about six weeks. Barely missing the deadline, she was unable to access an abortion before the ban took effect. At 18-years-old, Brooke found herself juggling the feeding and sleeping schedules of twin newborns. Their father, Billy High, enlisted in the military, rather than chase his skateboarding dreams, in order to provide for his unexpected new family. Appearing in a story about the abortion ban shortly before Roe v. Wade was overturned, they became symbols on both sides of the abortion debate in the United States.

Brooke High vacuums as Billy High watches skateboarding videos and their twins, Kendall and Olivia, play at home in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. Brooke often gets frustrated by doing chores while Billy hangs out or leaves a mess behind for her. They both gave up dreams to support the twins when she got unexpectedly pregnant and couldn’t access an abortion in Texas. For Brooke, it was giving up her plan to be a realtor. Now she feels stuck, because she doesn’t think she could provide for the twins if she left Billy.

While Billy High is at work, Brooke High comforts Kendall after Olivia bit her at home in Tampa, FL on June 26, 2023. As much as they struggle to get along sometimes, Brooke said the hours she is at home without Billy there to help her are the hardest. He works from 2 pm until after 11, so she has to take care of the girls’ bedtime routine alone.

When they disagreed about whose turn it was to change the diapers for their twins, Brooke and Billy High play Rock Paper Scissors to decide at home in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. Games like Rock Paper Scissors help them avoid frequent arguments about who handles various chores and responsibilities.

While Billy High is at work, Brooke High takes care of their twins at home in Tampa, FL on June 26, 2023. Every time they put the girls down for bed, one of them reads Kendall and Olivia a bedtime story. Brooke was proud when a doctor called her girls "really smart" at a one-year checkup.

Taking a break from playing video games, Brooke and Billy High toss Kendall as Olivia watches at home in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. Brooke says she is proud of the decisions they have made for their family. Billy is a mechanic for the Air Force, while Brooke cares for the girls full time. However, they both said that they miss the freedom they had before.

Billy High does a backflip as he and Brooke High play with their twins, Kendall and Olivia, at a park in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. A throwback to his days showing off at the skatepark where they met, Billy often does tricks like this at the playground instead. Sometimes Brooke finds it charming, but other times she just wants him to pay attention to her and the girls.

Brooke High gives Billy High a kiss as they play in the pool with their twins, Kendall and Olivia, in Tampa, FL on June 26, 2023. When they first moved to Tampa, she missed her new husband dearly. However, as time went on, he felt more distant—too tired from work to talk or give her validation of his love. To help with the arguments and tension in their marriage, Brooke and Billy now see a marriage counselor, who recommends that they each take time for themselves. Brooke takes Kendall and Olivia to swim lessons every week and continues their education whenever she can at the pool in their apartment complex. It is nearly impossible for her to handle them without Billy's help though because the girls will shoot off in different directions.

Brooke and Billy High put their twins, Kendall and Olivia, down for a nap at home in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. If they didn’t have the girls, they both admit their teen romance probably would have fizzled out and they would have moved on. Now, they instead share the experience of parenthood. A study by pro-abortion-rights research group at the University of California at San Francisco, which included nearly 1,000 women, found that women who are denied abortions experience worse financial, health, and family outcomes than those who are able to end their pregnancies.

Brooke High listens on a call with a career coach, to help her reach her new dream of being a personal trainer, at home in Tampa, FL on June 26, 2023. “It’s a little bit scary,” Brooke said of how quickly their relationship could fall apart. “Billy and I haven’t been together that long.” So, using military spouse benefits, she found hope in having a plan to gain some independence and help support her children regardless of how things play out with Billy.

Billy High laughs as Kendall and Olivia High, wearing matching Air Force onesies, play with his hat before he leaves for work from their home in Tampa, FL on June 26, 2023. After Air Force basic training, “I felt more able to take care of them,” he said. “I felt like I could do anything if I wanted to.” His daughters made him feel good about the person he was becoming. While Brooke is their main caregiver, one of the things she loves most about Billy is that he is the "fun" one who can always make their girls laugh.

Brooke High pushes Kendall and Olivia in a stroller on a walk with a friend, who she met in a military spouse support group on Facebook, in Tampa, FL on June 26, 2023. They spoke of the struggles of parenthood, military life, and being more than a thousand miles from home. Brooke shared how well the call with a career counselor went earlier that day. How comforting it was to have a ray of hope amidst the uncertainties of their future. A year after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Billy said of the abortion laws that led to their situation, “If I see it on the news, I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s why I have two kids today. I think that for like a split second, then I move on.”