A few months ago, I was able to meet with a young girl facing an unplanned pregnancy. We were able to offer her free testing and an ultrasound to see her baby. The father of the baby had initially told her to “get rid of the baby,” as he did not have much of a relationship with her and did not want to take care of a child. She, on the other hand, knew she could not go through with an abortion and was leaning towards placing her baby with an adoptive family. There was one issue though: she felt this pregnancy had to be kept secret from the people she knew. She thought aloud, “How could they trust me and what would they think of me if they knew about the choices I made that I’ve hidden from them before?” She had always been the “good girl” and did everything right, but now she’s pregnant and the father of the baby doesn’t want to be involved. This pregnancy would expose another side of her that not many knew about, and she feared there would be judgment and disappointment.

Thankfully, we serve a God of many chances and one who loves and forgives us for our mistakes. As I was able to talk with her about her options, I reminded her of the hope and plans God has for her and her baby, and how he was not surprised by any of it. We talked through how to tell the ones that love her about her pregnancy, and how difficult it could be to have to keep her pregnancy and her child a secret from them the rest of her life.

I was able to do an ultrasound for her and a sweet little 7-week baby appeared on the screen! The heart was pounding away, and we could occasionally see small movements and wiggles from baby. During the scan, she talked about how exciting it was to see her baby, even though this was unplanned for her. She was able to take home pictures of her baby, along with a packet of resources. We are trying to stay in contact with her and support her throughout her pregnancy. Thank you for supporting RETA to make this possible!

by Melody, Administrative Nurse