From P**n Worker to the Catholic Church: The In-Depth Conversion Story of the Woman Who Quit Sex Work

A wonderful conversion story. If only the entire world would convert! The strife so common in today's world would be a thing of the past. 

From ChurchPOP

By Christina Herrera

"I wept with abundant joy after I received the Body and the Blood of Jesus, and my life will never be the same.” 

Bree Solstad, a former pornography actress and producer, officially entered the Roman Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, Sat., March 30, 2024.

Known as “Miss B Converted” on X, (Formerly Twitter) Solstad shared with her large following that she decided to quit sex work and convert to the Catholic faith.

In a Jan. 1, 2024 post, she stated, “I am leaving behind my life of rampant sin, vice, pride, debauchery, vanity and lies to—with God’s grace—live a life of truth, beauty, obedience to God’s divine will, virtue and humility.

"I have been going through [OCIA] since the autumn and will be officially joining the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil in late March. Thank you, Jesus, for not giving up on such a wretched sinner. Thank you, Blessed Mary, Mother of God, for your immense love and consolation.”

In an in-depth interview with ChurchPOP, Solstad shared what took place in her heart and the incredible way God brought her home.

Early Life

Prior to her conversion, Solstad lived a life full of promiscuity and self-obsession, which spiked when a “recruiter” reached out to her.

“I was drinking more heavily and started a blog about my hedonistic behavior. The blog caught the attention of a successful sex worker, who reached out to me and essentially recruited me. She showed me how to get set up, and introduced me to some important people in the industry who could help me make as much money as possible. I had no moral compass and was all about myself anyway."

According to Solstad, she produced, distributed, and performed in pornographic videos for about a decade. She explained her work began as a young adult.

Despite being baptized and active in a Lutheran church during her youth, it did not remain a priority once she left for college.

“I completely fell away from the faith into a lifestyle of drunkenness, drugs, and promiscuity. Despite all this, I guess I still considered myself nominally Christian because of my childhood but didn't practice and had no faith life,” Solstad explained.

After suffering a tragedy a few years ago, Solstad shared that while she prayed harder than ever, she felt that Jesus did nothing.

“I felt like God had turned his back on me and so I did the same to Him.”

Surprisingly, a trip to Italy in 2023 made all the difference. While preparing for her visit, she knew she wanted to visit churches to see the beautiful art they held. This is where things first began to change.

“Once inside, I began to appreciate the art and the churches themselves for the theology they expressed. I began to notice more than just the beauty of the art…His gift to us was always plain to see as soon as I entered a church. For reasons I still can’t explain, I found myself getting down on one knee to cross myself when I entered and exited the churches.

"In Sorrento, I noticed the Virgin Mary on street corners all over the place. All of a sudden, I felt like Mary was calling me in the strangest way. Each time I entered a church, I felt compelled to seek her out.

"Mary is grace and mercy personified. She has shown me how to go through this life when you're faced with struggles and pain, and to get through them with dignity and with a faith that is even stronger than before.”

Solstad also found relief in another female saint--one she discovered in Assisi.

“I was moved to tears by Saint Clare. I knelt by her tomb and again asked for assistance. I felt like Saint Clare was actually present with me, and that she was going to take all the pain and anxiety from me and somehow give it to God.

"I felt deeply that she was telling me that I could count on her and trust her and Jesus with my heart. I cried, but also felt peace for the first time in a long time. From there, Florence and Rome became a whirlwind of kneeling, praying, and asking questions about the theology behind the best artwork in the world.”

After experiencing this shift in her heart, Solstad explained she knew she could not continue living her sinful lifestyle.

“When I came home, I quickly realized that I didn’t like what my life was like. I hated my job. I felt disgusting and guilty for the work I had been doing for a decade. I couldn’t stop thinking of all the things that I had done and all the lives I negatively affected through pornography. I felt grotesque.”

During this time, she began attending a Catholic Church somewhat regularly, hoping to reconnect with the feelings she experienced in Italy. After making an appointment with the parish priest, everything began to click.

“Among many other things, he told me that God loved me. He answered my desperate prayers all those years ago by leading me to His church, getting me to finally see the truth about the rampant sins I was committing through the lifestyle I was living, pushing me to grow in virtue and to turn away from sin so that I could be with Him and my lost loved one in Heaven. I am now so grateful and my heart is constantly full.”

While Solstad experienced a radical change of heart, her decision to join OCIA also came after a lot of research. Solstad believes she held anti-Catholic bigotry that festered through her childhood.

“Throughout [OCIA], things kept popping up that didn't make sense and I had no idea where these [anti-Catholic] opinions came from. But each and every time a doubt crept in, I would examine it and either research or ask someone about it, and I always came to the realization that what the Catholic Church was teaching was true.

"It just felt like God was calling me home to the Church on earth that His Son founded. But what has affected me the most is the Eucharist. Jesus is physically present in every Catholic Church all over the world.

"When I received my first Eucharist at the Easter Vigil, my entire life changed. I wept with abundant joy after I received the Body and the Blood of Jesus, and my life will never be the same.”

Solstad found comfort in the universality of the Church, stating, “If you want to know what we believe, it's all right there in the Catechism. It's the same for everybody. I can go to Mass in Italy and it will be the same as it is in a small town in Wisconsin.”
Solstad also noted the experience she felt participating in the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.

“I felt God's mercy all over," she said. "He was enveloping me in a soothing embrace of forgiveness. I cried a lot. But they were cleansing tears. Embarrassment and shame turned into feelings of astonishment that he was really going to forgive and absolve me of all my sins.

“Throughout the last several months, I've felt the pain in my life decreasing. I've experienced bouts of love and charity for others that seemed to come from nowhere.”
Solstad’s X profile is now a social media account for worshipping God, where she regularly invites people to pray with her.

“I think my Twitter itself has, by the grace of God, become a kind of outreach program. The number of messages I receive from people struggling with pornography and sin has been astounding. I have been praying for them all and, in many cases, have passed along Catholic resources to help them with their struggles.”

If you follow Solstad on X, you may notice she sells handcrafted rosaries. Before falling into sex work, she was employed by a top jewelry designer on the East Coast.

“This new job helps me to feel gratitude and keeps me connected to Jesus and Mary," she shared. I even got to design a special six-decade Rosary for a Dominican priest. It's incredible that I could be a part of something like that, given my past.

"In my previous life, nothing I did for work bettered anyone or made me feel special about anything. All it did was bring me deeper into the sins of pride, lust, and vanity. My heart is now so full.”

Thousands of social media users have congratulated Solstad for her conversion, all of which has not gone unnoticed.

“The support and enthusiasm for me has been overwhelming. There's been a tremendous amount of people offering themselves, their time, and their resources. Several people have sent me books about the faith and numerous priests and deacons have reached out to assist me in so many ways. I even received a third-class relic of several saints from a fellow Catholic. There have also been dozens of people at my local parish who have come up and congratulated me during this process.”

However, despite the positive and welcoming comments, there have been plenty of spiteful remarks, doubting her sincerity. However, Solstad views it as an opportunity for prayer.

“I honestly have taken their cruelty as a means of doing penance for all my past sins and have asked the Lord to apply any suffering that comes my way to others who are in need of His healing,” she said.

While Solstad revealed she feels unqualified to offer advice, she wants others who are currently involved in sex work to know one simple thing:

“All I would say is this: Jesus loves you. He doesn't want this for you. Sin breaks your relationship with Him but everyone can be forgiven. He wants to forgive you. All you have to do is ask.”

"Rejoice with me, he says to them, I have found my sheep that was lost. So it is, I tell you, in heaven; there will be more rejoicing over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine souls that are justified, and have no need of repentance." (Luke 15: 6b-7)

Picture: Courtesy of Bree Solstad