A CHOICE FOR ADOPTION

"Choice" is a word that abortion activists like to use in their fight for women's rights. Working at the Family Life Center has opened my eyes to the real maning of "choice." Pregnancy at any age or stage of a person's life will bring change-whatever that decision is. Although abortion looks like a quick fix, or an instant reliever, that choice comes back to haunt the women who choose it. Adoption is a positive choice for the mother and baby to live happy and productive lives.

When Carla became pregnant she was only 16. Her parents divorced when she was very young. Therefore, she grew up with a lot of freedom. She got into drugs, alcohol and sex at the young age of 14, and quit school at 16. When she was 15 she attempted suicide, and had been diagnosed by her psychiatrist as a manic depressent. Because of all her problems, her mother thought abortion would be her best option. Carla refused.

The Family Life Center referred her to a maternity center and adoption agency near St. Louis, Missouri. It was there she stayed during her pregnancy because her mother would not let her live at home. ther were rules Carla had to abide by while at the home, and one of them was to attend church on a regular basis. She did not really like it at first, but then began to listen with interest to the message about the burth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The workers at the home wer Christians demonstrating to Carla the same love she was hearing about at church.

No doubt Carla was facing extremely difficult decisions to make about her pregnancy, and could use Divine help. So she asked God to help her in the decision about parenting or placing her baby for adoption. The professional counselors at the home worked with Carla on a weekly basis, educating her on the different kinds of adoption; and the emotions she would experience. They also encouraged her to go back to high school and find a part-time job.

She was in her second trimester of pregnancy when she decided to place her baby for adoption. She wanted an open adoption where she could have reasonable correspondence with her baby throughout his or her life. Looking through page after page of pictures and biogrophise of adoptive parents, she finally chose the couple she wanted to meet. Consequently, she was in her eighth month of pregnancy when she found the perfect couple for her baby.

Although what she had chosen to do was going to be difficult, she knew it was the best thing for her baby and herself. All during her pregnancy she wrote letters to her unborn child explaining how she felt and why she chose adoption. She also let him know that because she loved him so much she wanted him to have the best parents ever.

She andt he adoptive parents met weekly and were with Carla when she delivered a beautiful baby boy. She held him and fed him during her hospital stay and then released him to his adoptive parents. Although placing her baby in the arms of nother was hard to do, Carla said she felt such peace because she had nver before been so unselfish.

She receives letters and pictures of her son. She also goes to his birthday parties. He does not know who she is yet, but someday they will tell him. She knows her baby is happy and well cared for, and she has found real meaning for her own life as well. She wants to work with women who, like her, seemed to be heading down a road that led to nowhere but destruction. She wants to use her story as a testimony so other women can see that adoption is a positive choice. A choice that will leave you feeling good about yourself and you baby. A choice that ends where everbody wins!