By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

It is a tale not easily told.

Pregnant at the age of 16, giving birth to a son, eventually
marrying the father, who was 21 at the time. That man is now in prison for
statutory rape.

Brandi Dredge began journaling to cope with the mixed-up
emotions and trauma she endured, writing to make sense of what had happened to
her life. It began to take shape as a book, coming out as Girl,
Uncoded:  A Memoir of Passion, Betrayal,
and Eventual Blessings.

Dredge says she wrestled with her identity after the ordeal,
began journaling to relieve her pain, then decided her story could help others.

“It’s bigger than me.” Dredge tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “It
really felt like God’s hand on my life to share that story with others that I
might be able to give somebody else hope.”

Dredge says she saw herself as a wife and mother, not a victim,
until law enforcement spoke with her, pressing the point that she was a victim of
statutory rape and her son carried the DNA proof needed for a conviction.

Dredge says her memoir tells her story, her brokenness, and a
peace that came over her, helping her understand she would be okay.

“That kind of led me to take like the next steps,” Dredge
says. “I’d wobble on different elements of that, which I also think is a true faith
journey is when we do wobble, but then you come back to something that’s bigger
than yourself. It’s hard to explain, but it’s kind of like a knowing and a calm
even in the storm.”

Dredge says she developed her faith further through her church family.

Dredge says she hopes those who find themselves in similar
circumstances, facing similar confusion and doubt, will take heart when they
read her story.

“The biggest thing that I hope that readers would take away is
that there’s hope, there’s always hope,” Dredge says. “And if I can make one
person out there feel less alone and know that they are loved and that they matter,
that would be phenomenal.”

Her experience has led Dredge to work with Missouri state legislators to ban child marriage in Missouri, supporting legislation that would require women reach the age of 18 before they could marry. A bill was introduced in the last legislative session, but it failed to pass. Dredge is a member of the National Coalition to End Child Marriage, which advocates for the minimum age of 18 to marry throughout the country.

Dredge appears in a sold-out event hosted by the Story Collective
in downtown St. Joseph tonight. She will be at a Cup of Joe event Saturday.

On November 16th, Dredge will appear at an event held
by Sisters of Solace.

You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.