Sarah* always enjoyed her life, although it wasn’t always as she had expected it to be. At twenty-seven, she was in between jobs and had to live with her mother. It was nice to have the help and support she needed to raise her seven-year-old son.
She lived each day with a positive attitude, as it was easy for her to slip into a cycle of self-loathing if she let herself. You can only imagine how she felt the day she found out she was pregnant, again.
Sarah’s heart began thumping out of her chest when she saw those two little lines on
the pregnancy test. She worried what her mother would think, as she was already providing so much help and support. She was worried that adding a baby into the mix just wasn’t possible.
Over the next few days, she decided to let the father of the baby know she was pregnant, in hopes he could provide the additional support she needed. Unfortunately, he did not believe the baby was his, and she couldn’t get him to commit to being in the child’s life.
After weeks and weeks of sleepless nights, one day, Sarah made a fateful decision—to arrange for an abortion. She pulled out her phone and searched Google for information on abortion. She clicked on one of the first ads she saw for a place called ThriVe Orlando Express Womens Healthcare. As she browsed their website, Sarah felt like this place cared about her and her needs and her future, so she booked an appointment.
When Sarah arrived for her appointment, she received information on abortion, adoption and parenthood. The staff informed her that they would need to check the age of the baby using an ultrasound. Sarah agreed and found out that she was seven weeks along. However, to the dismay of the ThriVe staff, at the end of her appointment, she still indicated that she planned to have an abortion.
A few weeks later, Sarah was invited back for a second, and later a third, ultrasound. She intended to choose abortion until something happened at the third ultrasound.
As the baby developed and Sarah got to see the precious and beautiful life growing inside her, something changed in her heart. She wanted to take on the challenge of motherhood (again) and told the nurses that she would carry to term.
Sarah began ThriVe’s Aspire parent program which was a weekly class that matched her with a parenting mentor to help her along the way. After a month of attending the program, she confessed to her mentor that she was still contemplating abortion because she feared her mother would be angry. Her mentor encouraged her and prayed with her so that God would calm her fears and help her to choose life.
A few days later, Sarah mustered up the strength to do something she had been dreading—to tell her mom she was pregnant. As she did, her mother gave her a big hug and was thrilled to have another grandchild!
Sarah was overcome with relief, and her mother’s support reinforced her gut feeling to choose life. In November, Sarah welcomed her precious baby girl into the world. She credits the support of ThriVe and her mother that helped her choose life.
*name changed to protect client