Stories Like Yours
Isn’t it SO comforting to know that you are not the ONLY one who has ever gone through
this? People from all walks of life have had to make hard choices about their pregnancies.
Check out their stories and be encouraged!
Mary
At 19 years old I was living the perfect life. I’d recently accepted the job of
my dreams out of state and was preparing to move and begin this wonderful new phase
in my life when I learned that I was pregnant. After telling my mom, we decided
to be sure and showed up after closing time on a Friday night. The woman who runs
the center happened to still be around, so she brought us inside and met with my
mom and I separately, then together. She explained all of my options and even helped
me to discover how God felt about my situation. It turns out that SHE had gotten
pregnant when SHE was 19 as well, and that she had decided to keep her daughter.
She told me it was the best decision that she ever made. At the end of our time,
she scheduled me for an ultrasound that next Monday to see if I had a viable pregnancy.
She prayed for me and told me how much I was cared for. After the longest weekend
of my life, I went back for my ultrasound. I was shocked to hear the baby’s heartbeat
as I learned that I was about wweeks along. I will never forget that sound. I walked
out of the clinic stunned, not knowing what to do. The counselor told me to take
my time making the decision… that nothing needed to be decided overnight. Weeks
later, my mom drove me to an abortion clinic and as I was signing the consent forms
I turned and told her that I had decided to keep the baby. About 6 months later
I delivered my son. My happy, healthy, joy-of-my-life son. My life is SO complete
and I’m certain that I made the right decision. Oh and the job? Once they learned
that I was having a baby, they offered me an even BETTER position in my home town!!
Maybe there IS something to this whole “God knows what’s best for me” stuff…
Christina
No one in my family had ever gone to college. I was so proud to be the first! I’d
worked my tail off in high school and could not wait to start college in the fall.
Life seemed to be working out perfectly until I began to suspect that I was pregnant.
Everything stopped at that moment. I became terrified and numb, and worst of all
I felt utterly alone because there was NO way I was gonna tell my parents. I could
not bear the thought of disappointing them and seeing all of their dreams for me
come crashing down. I found my way to this center where they kindly ushered me inside
to a counseling office. Immediately I felt safe and welcome - not judged or rejected,
but loved and accepted. The counselor and I talked about all of my options. She
clearly answered all of my questions. She prayed for me, because of her encouragement
I had an Ultrasound that day. Unfortunately, they couldn’t tell anything conclusively
because I was testing so early, so I was told to come back in one week for another
one. One week later, I had my second Ultrasound only to discover that I had miscarried
that week. I was no longer pregnant. I know I should have been totally relieved,
and I was, but there was also a mixture of sadness. I guess I had begun to think
about this baby already and me being its mother, so I experienced some grief in
losing my child. I was able to go to college as planned, and to this day I have
not told my parents about that ordeal, but every time one of my friends thinks she
is pregnant I call the people who helped me and make an appointment for my friend.
Each time they have been lovingly cared for as I was in my most frightful moment.
Danielle
I’d met him five years before and had been his wife for the last year and a half.
My husband meant everything to me and we had a wonderful life. We loved the same
stuff, looked at life the same way and were the perfect team in almost every situation.
Almost. When I learned that I was pregnant, I was overjoyed. You can imagine my
hurt and dismay when, after hearing the news, he asked me to consider getting an
abortion. He thought that this “blob” was nothing more than an inconvenience and
that we weren’t ready for a child yet – the plan was to wait longer to start a family.
Online one night, I discovered some graphic pictures of abortions and was sickened.
I had no idea what abortions were really like. The next day I called and made an
appointment with this center. My husband came with me, and after they talked to
me privately about all of my concerns and options, I decided to have an ultrasound
to determine if I had a viable pregnancy. My husband joined me in the room and together
we saw our baby at about 12 weeks old and heard its heartbeat. While in the room,
looking at the ultrasound, I asked the counselor to explain the various abortion
procedures to my husband. He was visibly shaking as he sat through her gentle explanation
and we got up and left immediately after. Five days later, I emailed our counselor
at the center to thank her for her love and support, and to inform her that my husband
and I had decided to keep the baby. As he saw and heard that heartbeat for the first
time, he realized that this “blob” was a real life and that he was not in any kind
of position to terminate it. I’m so grateful to this center for the way they lovingly
embraced us just the way we were. We are looking forward to welcoming this new addition
to our team with open arms.