I found out I was pregnant in prison – now I’m trying to give back to society

She had an unexpected cellmate.

Amanda Tarver, a Miami, Florida, wife and mother of two, discovered she was pregnant two weeks after being incarcerated following a drug conviction.

“I didn’t even know if I was going to make it full term because of my stress and anxiety level,” she said.

The ex-convict was jailed for 24 months after helping her husband (then boyfriend) Legend sell drugs by transferring money – and taking packages to her flat.

“I really thought my life was over,” Tarver said. “When they told me the decision, I was in shock.”

Her partner in crime was given 47 months in prison for conspiracy to import a controlled substance.

Tarver, 34, a first-time offender, served time at Coleman Federal Prison Complex in Florida from 2015 to 2016.

While she and Legend remained in the big house, her son Dorian, 6 at the time, had to stay with her mother-in-law Maria.

As a new mother, she was “waiting to get a warning or a test” but realized it didn’t matter, “I didn’t know how to explain to Dorian that I’d been gone for so long,” she added.

The couple’s love story began when they locked eyes in a college bar in 2012. At the time, Legend was selling illegal drugs to help pay for his education and support his family.

“It became a lot about survival and what I felt were my options at the time,” he confessed. “I was the older brother of a single mother and I was the man of the house helping to pay the bills and the rent.”

Meanwhile, Tarver didn’t think much of Legend’s side hustle because party drugs were popular in the town they lived in, she claims.

“I was young and naive and I didn’t think of it as something terrible or really consider that we could harm people,” Tarver said.

However, the law eventually caught up with the couple – landing Tarver with a baby on the way.

When she became seven months pregnant, Tarver was moved to a special unit for pregnant prisoners, which she describes as “a warehouse with no windows and thin beds”.

She felt like she was on an “emotional roller coaster,” waiting for the days she could give birth.

The new mother gave birth to Legend Jr. behind bars.

“It was horrible to hear everything Amanda was going through, knowing I couldn’t be there to provide for my wife,” Legend admitted.

Tarver’s newborn stayed with him for three months before being sent to live with his grandmother Maria and brother Dorian.

While both incarcerated, the couple remained connected through letters as their only form of communication.

“When you’re in prison, the only thing you have to look forward to is correspondence from loved ones,” Tarver said. “[Legend and I] they were so close yet so far, having been imprisoned in the same compound but on opposite sides.”

The exchange of letters allowed them to discuss their future plans – including marriage – after they were both released.

“We focused on getting back on our feet first, getting jobs and getting back into the swing of things with our two sons,” Tarver said. “But then we looked at the bigger picture.”

The couple’s experience led them to start a charity called 300 Letters – inspired by the hundreds of letters they exchanged while behind bars.

The organization offers free family therapy, financial assistance for things like child care, and empowerment support groups for families with minor children recovering from the trauma of incarceration.

“One issue for me was coming back from prison with low self-esteem, low confidence levels and having to become a good parent again while building my professional support,” Tarver confessed.

“In prison, I felt like my identity was broken – I felt like a number.”

The project was rooted in Tarver and her husband’s efforts to fit into society after becoming incarnated.

“We’ve explored all the different things that we’ve been through as a couple, as parents, and what our kids have been through — and that’s how we started developing our programs,” Legend said.

300 Letters has now helped about 400 families, according to the organization.

“We work to strengthen that family structure and lessen the impact on children,” Legend continued. “We want to break that cycle.”

“A lot of people hear about us through word of mouth, which I think shows the amount of parents who want to prioritize their family and navigate the most positive life possible after this experience,” Tarver said.