13. You Have Options

Prenatal Support & Parenting Resources
There is help for you and your baby!

Every state in the nation has programs to give financial, medical, and other help to pregnant women and children. There are also many families, churches, and organizations that want to help you.

Contact your Local Pregnancy Center
This organization can provide advice to help you obtain any resources you may need during pregnancy and after your child is born. (See page 2 for more information)

Call your local department of social services.
Find out if you qualify for assistance from any state or federal programs (food assistance, medical assistance, housing assistance, and more).

Other Resources
Good Counsel Homes (maternity homes): 800-723-8331
Nurturing Network: nurturingnetwork.org
For the most recent information about open adoption:
1-800-923-6784 or www.LifetimeAdoption.com
Request a free book for all women facing unplanned pregnancy at  www.FreeAdoptionBook.com

Adoption can be a positive solution
...for you and your baby. You can research adoption without obligation and find out that adoption isn’t “giving your baby away.”
“I couldn’t handle wondering about my baby the rest of my life.”
With an open adoption, you have opportunity to always know how your baby is doing. If you want, you can choose a family who will keep in touch with you through pictures, letters, email, websites, phone calls, or even visits. The contact arrangement of your adoption can change over time with your comfort level. Your baby can know who you are and how she was given a life through your loving choice of adoption.
“I don’t want someone I don’t know to raise my baby.”
With open adoption you can choose from dozens of approved families waiting to adopt.  You can get to know the family or families you like before your baby is born and decide how you want to keep in touch after the adoption. You can even plan future visits with your baby and the adoptive family, if you like.
“My husband and I were unable to have biological children of our own.  We are so grateful to our son’s birth mother for her wisdom in choosing to allow someone else to raise her child, knowing that it was best for him. I can only imagine what a difficult decision it must have been, but because of her loving and giving heart, my husband and I have a son to call our own...a son to love and cherish, and share with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.”
—Julianne