Our patients are the reason Hope Women’s Centers exists and we want to share a very special patient story – Maria and Jared’s story. We hope this story encourages you and if you partner with us, we hope you see how your involvement with Hope is directly making a difference for life!
“When my pregnancy test was positive, the first emotion I felt was FEAR. I wondered how this would affect my future. I wondered how I would finish college and get my degree. I couldn’t even imagine telling my family that I was pregnant. I wasn’t sure I even wanted my boyfriend to know until I had made a decision. I felt tremendous financial pressure. I had no health insurance.
Could I do this? And the biggest question of all, if Jared walked away, could I do this alone??
My visit to Hope definitely had an influence on my decision. My counselor listened to my fears. She gave me good information about abortion procedures, abortion risks, and prenatal development. But the most important thing she gave me was the assurance that I could do this.
I decided to talk to my parents. The first thing they wanted to know was, “What does Jared want to do?” I admitted that I hadn’t talked to him yet, and they couldn’t believe it! My father gently said, “Maria, this young man is the father of your baby. Don’t you think he has a God-given right to know?”
There was no condemnation, only love and understanding. The combination of my parents’ love and grace and forgiveness, and the way Jared reacted proved to me that the woman at Hope was right – God did have a wonderful plan for my life, and
all of the dreams I had dreamed as a little girl were still possible.
Jared stepped up, and said,
“Well I already know I love you. Now I need to know if you will marry me and be my wife?”
We had a small wedding in the church where we had both grown up, surrounded by our family and close friends.
Our little girl was born a few months later, and being Jared’s wife and Emily’s mom are the greatest joys of my life, so far. I graduate from nursing school this summer, and Jared and I are looking forward to a wonderful life together – a life that we are very grateful for.
It turns out that my counselor was right: with God, all things are possible.
I will be forever grateful to Hope Women’s Centers for being there for me when I needed them.”
Maria is but one of the many patient’s lives touched because of partners like you. Without Hope Women’s Centers, Maria and Jared may not have been given the hope they needed to be able to choose life for their daughter Emily and experience the joy of being her parents.
*For confidentiality of our previous patients, an alternate photo was selected for this blog.
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