How Past Pregnancy Trauma Led To Hope In The Midst Of An Unplanned Pregnancy
Aly* and her boyfriend arrived at Sanford Crisis Pregnancy Centers’ mobile unit excited and nervous.
The mobile unit, known as a Stork Bus, offers free services such as pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, and STD testing.
Aly told the mobile unit staff that she had known about her pregnancy for a while and that both she and her boyfriend were happy to parent their baby. But she wanted to get an ultrasound to determine how far along she was.
Christy*, the client advocate, noticed that Aly looked nervous during her intake questionnaire.
“Have you had an abortion in the past?” Christy asked.
“Yes,” Aly replied in a small, sad voice. “When I was 14 years old, I was violently raped and got pregnant.” She continued, “My mom decided that it was best to hide the pregnancy from my family and took me to get an abortion. We haven’t spoken about it since then.”
The whole experience was traumatizing for her and led to a rift in her relationship with her mother. Aly feared telling her mother about her current pregnancy, worrying that she would try and take Aly to have an abortion again.
Aly also mentioned that her abortion wasn’t her only traumatizing pregnancy experience.
“Last year, I had a molar pregnancy and had to have the abnormal tissue removed,” she told Christy.
A molar pregnancy is “a rare complication of pregnancy” where the cells that typically turn into the placenta grow into irregular cysts and growths which have to be removed, thus ending the pregnancy.
Aly’s pregnancy test was positive, so they did an ultrasound right away.
Aly and her boyfriend watched excitedly as their baby moved around on the screen. They were surprised to learn that Aly was already in her second trimester.
They left the mobile unit excited and hopeful. Not only were they given free services through the pregnancy center, but she was also offered access to the pregnancy center’s “Earn While You Learn” program: a program designed for new moms to learn about various aspects of pregnancy and parenting.
Sanford Crisis Pregnancy Center is in one of Save the Storks’ mission-critical markets. We are focusing on “mission-critical” areas in California and Florida to target the high abortion rates. 24 percent of pregnancies are aborted in Florida alone. Our goal is to help educate the community and raise awareness to connect women in the community with their local pregnancy centers through targeted advertising in these areas. To learn more about how we are partnering with pregnancy centers in mission-critical areas, click here.
Many pregnancy centers offer counseling services for trauma from abuse and abortion. To find and connect with a counselor near you, click here.
*Names are representational
