It’s wonderful when a woman comes into a pregnancy center with an unplanned pregnancy, and after learning the facts and seeing her ultrasound, decides to keep her baby.
But it doesn’t always happen so smoothly. Sometimes the young mom leaves the center still undecided. Maybe she didn’t show up for an ultrasound or second appointment. Maybe she didn’t return texts or calls, and the center workers don’t know what the outcome is.
These situations generally mean the pregnancy center continues praying but assumes that at least some of these moms have gone ahead with an abortion.
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Then once in a while there’s a fabulous surprise.
A client unexpectedly expresses her gratitude for her child.
In Vero Beach, Fla., A Caring Place has had two grateful grandmas express their appreciation for their grandchild.
Gerri Rorick, founding director, recalls a woman who came in last year with, “an adorable little girl, three-years-old, dressed beautifully with bows in her hair.” The woman was on her way to a restaurant for lunch with her granddaughter when she saw the pregnancy center’s sign, and realized it was the very place her daughter had come to a few years back in an unplanned pregnancy.
“She said, “I just had to stop. I had to come in and have you meet my granddaughter, and thank you, because if her mother hadn’t come here, I wouldn’t have this wonderful little girl in my life!”
Every year, a local church invites A Caring Place to come in and speak about their center. An annual update is given, and baby save stories are shared.
At the most recent church presentation, a woman came up to Gerri after she spoke, and said, “Do you remember me? Each year when you come here to my church I make a point of thanking you. I have three grandchildren thanks to all your care and support.”
The woman’s daughter received assistance from A Caring Place with all three of her pregnancies, two of which were unplanned.
A few weeks ago, Iggy Diaz, who prays at least twice a week at Planned Parenthood in Hempstead, New York, was at his regular spot on the sidewalk. He was praying the rosary with a small group, trying to talk to anyone walking or driving into the parking lot, to offer them free help from the pregnancy center a block away.
A car pulled up along the curb and a window rolled down. Iggy thought someone needed directions. Instead, a woman waved him over and said, “I’ve been looking for you!” She’d driven past the abortion center a few times recently, hoping to find him there praying as he was when she first met him.
“This is my baby girl; I wanted to introduce you to her – you saved her life!’
The young mother and her husband had come to this abortion center scheduled for a “termination.” Iggy was standing there as they drove in that day, motioning for them to roll down the window. He pleaded with the couple to go to the pregnancy center a few doors up the street before making any decision.
“You said they’d tell me the whole truth and I would see my ultrasound,” she remembered.
It was something about the sincerity on his face and seeing him praying there in the hot sun that made the couple consider what he said. He directed them over to the pregnancy center, and called there himself to let them know about the couple on their way in.
Neither Iggy, the sidewalk counselor, nor the staff at the pregnancy center ever knew what this couple decided to do. They left the center undecided that day and didn’t return several phone messages.
Now here they were, determined to find the man that intervened and helped them make the right decision.
Their infant daughter smiled from her car seat as the mom and dad kept saying they were so glad they were directed to the pregnancy center before they made a tragic decision.
“We just adore her,” her mom said.
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In Kingman, Ariz., Advice & Aid Pregnancy Center Director Teresa Reaume shared a recent surprise visit of a mother and child.
“Usually, we know when a client changes her mind and keeps her baby because she often becomes a regular client,” she said. “But there are times when we get a terrific surprise.”
“This happened when I got a phone call from a young lady asking me if she could come in with her 10-month-old baby,” said Reaume.
“What made it special was that she’d first called our center when she was considering an abortion,” she said. “We never even met her; just through the phone call, this mother changed her mind. The counselor helped her through her fears and explained the risks of abortion. We don’t know which counselor took her call but that doesn’t matter; what matters was that she continued her pregnancy and came in to celebrate her baby with us.”
Reaume added, “We all are so thankful to be in this ministry to help women to continue their pregnancy in a normal and healthy manner offering resources and love to these precious mothers.”
