Names changed to protect confidentiality
I came in for a pregnancy test. Little did I know that I would receive the objective listening ear that I needed so much. Everyone in my life was so wrapped up in my situation. It was hard to get an unbiased perspective. At ComfortCare, I could get medical information and also unload my thoughts on a neutral third party. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.
In 2002, when I found myself pregnant and pondering abortion, I went to the Pregnancy Help Center (now ComfortCare Women’s Health.) I received a free pregnancy test and talked with a counselor about my options. While I was there, I picked up a pamphlet on how abortion affects fathers. I immediately started to cry. I hadn’t even thought about how this would affect him. READ MORE > >
When the test showed positive, my counselor and I estimated that the baby would be due within a couple of days of my birthday. After that, I knew I couldn’t go through with the abortion. Even though the circumstances were nowhere near what I had hoped, I still felt l had to be strong and have my baby. My counselor stayed in contact and supported me through the first year of my daughter, Sierra’s, life. I’m so thankful that this outreach was there for me in my time of need. Sierra is my joy. She is beautiful, smart and a blessing. I can’t imagine the dark hole that would fill my heart if she weren’t with me.
One November day, I took a home pregnancy test. It came back positive. For me there was no question as to the course of action. I was pregnant. I would have a baby. My boyfriend, we’ll call Todd, never wanted children. I believed this was something we were capable of handling. He too believed it was something we could handle, but in a very different manner. He didn’t just want me to have an abortion- He expected me to. READ MORE > >
Initially, this situation drew us closer as we struggled to accept how drastically things were going to change. But as the days and weeks drug on, things only got worse. Todd fell into despair and eventually saw only two options- the pregnancy must be terminated or he must be. He told me he would commit suicide if I did not abort our baby. He said he couldn’t go on living knowing that he had a child out there if we were to go our separate ways.
How do you choose something like that? If he were to kill himself, I would have that guilt to live with for the rest of my life. I would know that there was something I could’ve done to stop him. I tried to think about the option he wanted- abortion. I panicked just thinking about it. The finality of it all. I could never un-do that choice.
My mind raced as I tried to think of who I could turn to, where I could go. I knew my friends would try to give me advice, and that wasn’t what I needed at that point, plus I didn’t want everyone to know the situation. I thought about my minister, but I wasn’t sure I could tell everything to someone I knew.
One day, I left my job and drove to ComfortCare. I wasn’t even sure what services they offered…maybe just maybe they had someone I could talk to, someone who didn’t know him or me, someone I would never have to face again.
I knocked, unsure if they were even open. The good Lord sent a loving counselor to me that day. She gave me the brochures, describing the fetal life cycle, describing the procedure of abortion in each stage, informing me of the risks of the procedures. I talked. And she listened. It was all I needed. After that first visit, we set up an appointment for an ultrasound and more counseling.
I had the ultrasound the following week and fell even deeper in love as I saw my child’s arms and legs, the shape of his head and his tiny hands and toes. At no time was any judgment passed, or any pressure put on me to make a decision one way or another as far as the pregnancy was concerned. My counselor and I continued to meet for many more sessions to explore my options. She helped me to see, in one of my darkest hours, that there were other options other than the two Todd was giving me. Todd could live and so could my baby. We talked about some drastic interventions to get Todd the help he needed. I could suddenly see a ladder up and out of a pit when I had only been staring at two doors.
ComfortCare and my counselor helped me to make the decision I knew was right. By this point, Todd realized I was not going to have an abortion. To make a long story short, Todd did not kill himself. Shortly after, he moved out of our apartment and into an apartment with his ex-girlfriend.As for me, I didn’t make the biggest mistake of my life thanks in large part to the love and support of my counselor and the others at ComfortCare. They listened. They cared. They loved.
Well, I gave birth to an absolutely amazing blonde, blue-eyed little boy. Everyday, since his birth, I live the “what-if”. What if I had chosen abortion? I would’ve wondered what my child would have been like, what he would have looked like, how he would’ve grown. Haven chosen this path, I know the answers to these questions and I am so blessed. I believe God put ComfortCare in my path that day and I thank Him and praise Him that He did. This pregnancy center is such an amazing resource for the community and made such a dramatic difference in my life. It was the difference between hope or despair, life or death. Please support them any way you can so that they will continue to be there for those just like me.