Stories of Hope
These stories are all anonymous but true. We want you to be encouraged, as well as participate; if you have a story, let us know!
Posted July 31, 2021
I got a call from a man that really wanted me to talk to his girlfriend. She was pregnant and he was concerned that she was going to abort baby or even hurt herself. I asked if he could bring her by the office. He responded that she would not come in as she was super shy and felt awkward. I asked if we could text and that was okay with her! We did that for a few days, and she then felt comfortable enough to come in and have a face-to-face conversation. Many conversations later, and a promise that we would be there for her, she is now waiting for her baby to arrive!!! Times are still tough for her, but we will continue to be here for her and baby every step of the way!
Posted October 12, 2018
I was feeling both nervous and expectant as I walked into the Chilliwack Pro-Life office for the first time. My husband and I were on the waiting list at an adoption agency in the Fraser Valley, anxiously waiting for “THE phone call” that would make us parents. When days turned to months turned to years, we felt there had to be another way of reaching a pregnant mom who was thinking of making an adoption plan for her baby. Our social worker agreed, encouraging us to reach out to a wider network of people. She explained that “direct placements”, where the birth mom and adoptive parents meet before even going to the adoption agency (such as through a friend of a friend of a friend) was a quicker route to adopting a baby. (Handing out “business cards” to random strangers, another idea, went a bit beyond our comfort zone!) Her final suggestion was to get in touch with a local pregnancy centre.
With our adoption profile book in hand, I approached what was then called the Chilliwack Crisis Pregnancy Centre, an arm of Chilliwack Pro-Life. In my conversation with the sympathetic counsellor I found out she wasn’t able to show our photo book to clients, as we’d hoped, as that could be seen as influencing a client in her decision. Instead, she assured me that clients would be connected with a local adoption agency if that was the route they were leaning towards. Although I left there disappointed that nothing concrete was happening towards our personal adoption goal, I felt encouraged now knowing what the pregnancy centre was all about. Here was a safe place pregnant women could come to, offering tangible support if they decided to keep their baby, knowledge and advice if they needed to find another solution. Fast forward 10 years…we now have two boys! Both times we were chosen by a birth mom going through the profiles at our adoption agency and feeling in her heart that “we were the one”. We have been incredibly blessed and have so much respect for our children’s birth families, who each surrounded their daughter/sister with love and support instead of pressuring her to take ‘the easy way out’. We are once again on the waiting list, this time as a family of four. Our two boys pray every night for a baby brother or sister (“or a boy AND a girl” our three-year-old says with a grin). With hopeful hearts, we pray all the birth moms out there are receiving the support they need, and that our profile will end up in the hands of someone looking for an adoptive family like ours.
Posted July 13, 2018
Growing up, my family was very pro-life and involved with the local Chilliwack Pro-Life Society. Little did I know that along my travels, the knowledge that I collected would come in great use, time after time. After being married and having 3 kids who were all in school and independent, a troubled family friend came for a visit with his girlfriend. She left again soon after they arrived, but I thought I noticed something familiar. After chatting with him and catching up, I asked him how many months pregnant his girlfriend was. He looked at me with surprise and told me she was 6 weeks pregnant and they had an appointment for an abortion in 2 days. I asked him to cancel the appointment and wait. After talking with his girlfriend, they made an appointment for a later date. This allowed time for me to educate them on what an abortion was and the ramifications it would have. With all the information and a lot of prayer, they chose to parent their baby, and I promised that my family would come alongside and support them, not knowing what that would mean at the time. I was relieved. I kept in touch with them over the next months, encouraging them and helping to prepare for the baby. When the day came to deliver, they were as prepared as they could possibly be, thanks to the Chilliwack Pro-Life Office assisting them with diapers, stroller, crib, formula and clothing. A beautiful baby was born on a sunny day. Healthy and strong and perfect! The story did not end there. As an avid pro-lifer, my job was not done. The day after the baby was born, the mom and dad were overwhelmed, exhausted, young and not sure what to do, and they showed up at my door. That little one spent the first night and many more nights with us. I was not prepared but knew that I needed to help! Over the next three years that baby was with me often. I taught the mom how to feed, change diapers, bathe and love that little one. This was truly one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever done. God was so faithful. That baby changed lives and changed my perspective on what being pro-life really was: that we always have room to do more for moms/families that made the hard choice to keep baby, and that life is important from conception to natural death. That beautiful baby is now 14 years old and flourishing! I just get to see glimpses into the family’s life. At the baby's 3-year mark, the parents and baby were doing awesome and moved out of town. People asked if I was broken-hearted when they left. While I did miss that little one, I knew it was time - time to sit back and reflect back to that day I stuck my foot in my month and asked, “How many months pregnant is your girlfriend?”