Nancy

Just before Thanksgiving during my sophomore year of college, I realized I was pregnant. My gut reaction was to have an abortion – I was not prepared for a pregnancy much less a baby while I was still in school. I even made the appointment to have an abortion and I was sure I could go through with it, until I got to the clinic and I heard the baby’s heartbeat.

I reconsidered and felt confused, so I called Children’s Home Society & Family Services to talk to a pregnancy counselor. A social worker from CHSFS met me at home, well, actually at my parents’ house. They were there, too, and so was my boyfriend. Together we talked about the situation and discussed some possibilities with the pregnancy counselor. She offered us a lot of information, both about adoption and about becoming parents. A few days later, after a great deal of thought, my boyfriend and I made the decision to choose open adoption.

My boyfriend and I were able to interview and select the adoptive parents for our child. We chose a wonderful family that we felt could give our baby all the things that we couldn’t at this point in our lives. I had a healthy baby girl. And our CHSFS pregnancy counselor was there along the way to help us deal with all the emotions that surfaced once we made our decision.

Making an adoption plan wasn’t easy. I shed so many tears, but I know in my heart that I made the best decision possible for the future of our child, and also for myself. Working with my pregnancy counselor made this possible – I couldn’t have done it without her support. The adoptive parents exchange letters with me regularly, and I know my daughter is happy. They have become friends of mine, and best of all, I know that my daughter will know that her birthfather and I made this decision for her, out of love.

– Nancy, a CHSFS Pregnancy Counseling Services client
(name changed to protect client’s identity)