The following story comes from Human Coalition – Pittsburgh. 

A missed period. A home pregnancy test. Two faint lines. When I found out I was pregnant four months ago, I launched into panic mode.

I wasn’t scared for the normal reasons a pregnant 21 year old would be scared. Yes, I’m young, but I’m in a loving relationship, I’m financially stable, and I have a supportive family. I was scared because, for me, being pregnant could be a matter of life or death.

Three years ago, my boyfriend, Darren, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. While radiation treatment saved his life, he was told it might cause serious problems in his reproductive future. He was warned that his future children might be born with deformities and the mother of his children might be harmed by the pregnancy.

It was heartbreaking to be so paralyzed by fear over something my boyfriend and I would otherwise be excited for. Everyone around me was saying abortion was my only option, so I scheduled an appointment.

When we arrived at the clinic, Darren and I couldn’t help but notice a large bus parked in the parking lot. It advertised free ultrasounds and pregnancy tests. I was curious and knew I would need an ultrasound before I had an abortion, so we poked our heads in.

We explained our situation to the nurse in the bus. She listened to our fears and concerns with deep sympathy.

I laid back on a reclining leather chair, where the nurse gave me my ultrasound. We had no idea that I was already 18 weeks along. It was moving around and waving its hands! The nurse said the baby looked totally healthy. Darren and I both started to cry.

We are so thankful that we chose to get an ultrasound in the Stork Bus. If we hadn’t, we might have never learned that our baby was actually completely healthy. We realized that we could not let the difficulties in our pasts define our future. We can’t wait to be a healthy family of three in a little over a month!

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