Victoria and Christiana
I am forever grateful for the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic, and especially my counselor, Marsha, who I first met in May 2000. This is my story.
Upon the realization that I had missed my period, my heart immediately sank at the thought that I could possibly be pregnant. I was only a 15 year old high school student. What would I do? I thought there was no possible way I could bring a child into this world and be able to meet all the needs that a child would need. As panic sunk in, I called my then boyfriend (now husband) and he drove to my house with a home pregnancy test. Our hearts were racing as we awaited the results…. the home pregnancy test showed that I was indeed pregnant. Not knowing what to do, we researched pregnancy centers in the hopes that they could provide more information and advice on our options. That is when we found the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic.
Our minds were pretty made up when we arrived for our appointment at the Clinic. We had decided that having an abortion was the best option. There were so many factors working against us having a baby, it just made the most sense to not have the baby. We met our counselor, Marsha, who spoke with us for nearly two hours that day. She was such a kind and caring woman, who answered every question we had with no absolutely no judgment. She not once frowned upon us when we told her what we wanted to do, but instead educated us on our potential options. At the end of our counseling session, she invited us to come back that following Wednesday for a sonogram. Even though we already had our minds set on the abortion, we agreed.
I remember Marsha calling me every day until my Wednesday sonogram to check on how I was doing. She would always end our phone conversations with a prayer, which as time went on, I found extremely comforting.
The Wednesday sonogram was such an eye opening experience. There, we found out our due date and was able to listen to our baby’s actual heartbeat. That was a truly breathtaking experience. That moment itself completely changed our lives.
As we highly contemplated changing our decision of having an abortion to keeping the baby, we faced many, many obstacles. Our parents disapproved of our decision, we had to figure out what we were going to do about our schooling, we had to find a place to live, we had to find jobs, and so much more in the preparation of having and raising a baby, and especially at such a young age. Through every step of the way, every obstacle we had to overcome, Marsha and the Clinic were there for us. Marsha would call us weekly, sometimes daily, to check on how we were doing and would offer us endless encouragement through each and every obstacle. With her support and with the support of all of the prayers we had from the Clinic, we overcame every obstacle… even the seemingly impossible ones.
On January 6, 2001, we gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby girl that we named Christiana. Marsha was one of the first people we called with the great news. She came almost immediately with her hands full of gifts from herself and the Clinic. Our parents, who initially disapproved with our decision, were overjoyed with the birth of their first
granddaughter. Time stood still and everything changed once we brought Christiana into our lives. The seemingly impossible obstacles that once stood in our way somehow found paths and we felt, for the first time in our lives, that everything happens for a reason and everything was going to be okay.
Today, my husband Christian and I have been happily together for 15 years. We have both worked extremely hard balancing work and finishing school while raising a child and are currently working in our careers as an Engineer and a Paralegal. We got married in 2006 and had our second daughter, Mia, in 2009. Christiana, our oldest, is now a 13 year old honor roll student getting ready to enter high school. Christiana and Mia are, without a doubt, the joys of our lives and we could not imagine life without them.
I say that the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic helped saved my daughter’s life because they opened up our eyes and gave us the knowledge, the strength and the encouragement to help us carry out our decision in keeping our baby. The Clinic brought our counselor, Marsha, into our life who guided us through each tough obstacle that a young teen faces having a baby at a young age. Without her, or the Clinic, our daughter would not be here today. But I also say the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic helped saved my life because in deciding that I wanted to keep my daughter, it opened up my eyes as to my life goals, and it gave me the push I needed to fulfill them. I am advocating for this Clinic because it truly saves lives.