From Beneficiary to Donor: 40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 29

Natalie got in touch with Good Counsel many years ago. She wanted an abortion as soon as possible. I picked up her message on the answerphone, and tried to call her back but couldn't get through. We missed each other's calls for two whole weeks and just when I thought we would never get to speak, and that Natalie would probably just have the abortion, she called me. 

She came to our Centre, told us about her situation -she and her boyfriend just were not sure where there relationship was going or if they were ready for a baby. We explained what we do and the support we could offer. 

Natalie brought her boyfriend to see us. They discussed their fears and worries and then we showed them how developed their baby was and what abortion would involve at the stage of pregnancy she was at. They both felt that abortion was a much bigger deal than they had thought. This helped them. to think through their relationship and decide to make a firm commitment to each other and their baby. We offered them help and they decided to get married and. keep their child.

They moved ahead, got married, and happily had their little girl. They did not request help in the end, because once they started working together to. keep their baby,  they found that they did not need help.

A couple of years later, while doing a Church Collection, we bumped into Natalie, her husband and daughter. They had one of our collection boxes. at home on their mantlepiece and brought it with them to contribute the contents to our appeal. In 2 years they had gone from fearing they couldn't cope with the baby she was carrying, and asking for our help to financially supporting Good Counsel so we could help other mums-to-be.

With prayer, the worst situations can be filled with God's grace and completely turned around. We just need to walk alongside expectant Mothers, supporting them as well we can,  until things do turn around and get better. That's what Good Counsel is all about!

Please be like this couple, and donate to support our life saving work. You can donate here or here.

The Benefit of theDoubt - A New Year's Eve to Remember: 40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 28

When Good Counsel was only a few months old, we were open on our first New Year's Eve.  A young couple came in, saying they were set on abortion and wanted to talk through just one last time before going ahead.

We spoke with the young woman first, and got a completely different picture. She was a career minded young woman, from well off background, but not so well off now she was starting off her own independent life. 

Her boyfriend was a man from a poor, working class family. He was very chatty and friendly but also very anxious, especially about the baby.

Ultimately, they felt that if they had the baby, it would be a struggle financially to afford a place to live and raise the child. She felt very willing to engage in the struggle - and if she couldn't afford it, realised she might need to accept some benefits for a short while until she could resume her career. She had been paying her taxes for awhile and felt that having to claim a little help with rent would not be the worst thing that could happen to her.

Her boyfriend, however, had grown up on benefits. He had worked hard to get out of that life and thought the most humiliating thing for his child would be to be born into a family on benefits.

The woman asked to see the developmental stage her baby was at, so we showed her some accurate images from medical textbooks. She cried out as if in terrible pain when she saw the images of a baby at 8 weeks. Her cry brought her boyfriend - well over 6 foot and a very tough looking character- running to her defence. But when he came in and saw her looking at these images, he turned to us and laughed, "I've lost, haven't I?". His girlfriend answered him "Yes, you have lost. I can't do it!"

They. walked off together hand in hand. I couldn't help but feel, from what they had told me, that if they put their minds together, their baby would be born into family that managed to avoid poverty, and maybe even managed without temporary recourse to help from the state.  

In any case, better to be born into family on benefit than not to be born at all!

Help us to be there for families like this one. Every donation really does make a difference.

Nagged into Giving Up A Precious Child, But God Had Another Plan! 40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 27

Isabel wanted to keep her baby. Her much older boyfriend who already had children from a previous relationship didn't. He put so much pressure on her that she rang her mum and told her about the pregnancy, hoping for support, instead, her mum said "If he doesn't want the baby, you will be alone in London with no help. I think you should have the abortion."

It was just at this point that Isabel came to us, desperate for help to keep her baby. We were able to offer support and help, due to the donations we recieve, and she accepted gratefully. 

Then she brought her boyfriend to see us. He rubbished all the help and told her she was stupid if she believed us. We had offered help with her rent and legal help, because she was being discriminated against at work because of her pregnancy.

She went home but continued to say she wanted her baby. She stayed in touch with us on a daily basis, trying to overcome the pressure she was under from the two people she cared about most. 

Finally one day, when she was 8 weeks pregnant, she didn't call. We couldn't get through to her either. Late that night she rang me and said she had taken the first abortion pill. 

She bitterly regretted it and was crying on the phone.

I told her if she wanted to stop the abortion process and keep her baby, we could help her to see a doctor privately to see if there was anything he could do (this was before abortion reversal services became widely available). But she said  she didn't think she could stop now that she had started and she just couldn't listen to anymore nagging from her boyfriend. She was going to take the second pill as well.

I told her we would pray for her and I felt very sorry for her because I could tell that she was very disappointed in herself, but also felt unable stand up for what she thought was right.

We did pray for Isabel but we didn't expect to hear from her again. 

A fortnight later I had a call from her and I picked it up to hear her saying "You are never going to believe this! I am still pregnant."

She was right! I couldn't believe it.

Isabel was one of a small number of Mothers we have seen who have taken not just 1 but both stages of the abortion pill and have still - without any medical help - managed to keep their babies.

Incredibly after all she had been through, her boyfriend continued to push her to try to abort again. And her Mother told her "Your baby will probably be handicapped because of the abortion pills. You should get rid of it!" 

But Isabel had learned what it felt like to be on the other side of an abortion (or so it had seemed) - and she was never going to do that again!

Isabel gave birth to a healthy baby girl who is now very much loved by her dad and her maternal grandmother. However, Isabel herself will never rely on them for advice in making a good decision, she has come to a new confidence in her own conscience and a new relationship with God through repenting of the mistake that nearly robbed her of her daughter!

The Best Laid Plans of Mums & Men: 40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 26

Tanya and her boyfriend were quite liberal minded, upwardly mobile young couple, not too well off as yet, but with good prospects. Good friends, with possibly a future together, but one they wanted to take their time deciding on. They were living together and sharing quite a party lifestyle when Tanya suddenly found her contraception had failed. Off she went to have an abortion, and she was glad to be offered what was (then) the "new' abortion pill.

Not being in use too long then, it wasn't' widely known that there are many complications of taking the abortion pill.*

In Tanya's case, the "complication" was that it didn't work. Despite heavy bleeding, and things seeming to return to normal, 4 months later Tanya came to the Good Counsel office for a pregnancy test and we found out that she was not "just a couple of weeks pregnant" as she thought, but that she was actually 6 months pregnant.

A scan and some medical advice from a doctor followed and Tanya discovered that - despite taking the two sets of pills needed to have an abortion,  and having taken a number of class A illegal drugs in the early weeks of her pregnancy - she was carrying what seemed to be a perfectly healthy baby. She was struck by a sense that this baby was "meant to be" As was her boyfriend. 

They accepted the baby, asked for a little practical help which we were able to supply because of your support, and then made a plan to raise this child together.

Their baby was born completely well. Thanks be to God.

*From April 2020 to September 2021, more than 10,000 women had to receive hospital treatment following the use of medical abortion pills in England, according to a study based on  data collected from 85 Freedom of Information requests to NHS Trusts across England. The study indicates that more than 1 in 17 women who had a medical abortion over the 18-month period needed hospital treatment. See the full article here.

A Wrong Number that was Right & Some Other God-incidences: 40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 25

Tina came to see us with her boyfriend. She wanted the abortion, he didn't. After he left the room she told us that she suspected him of being unfaithful. He, meanwhile, told us he suspected her of being unfaithful to him. He wanted them to sort out their difficulties and move forward keeping the baby. She, separately, began to change her mind on abortion and said she also wanted to keep her baby. After they left our centre, they carried on arguing and he had to go back to college in the North of England. Meanwhile, Tina's sister, who hated Tina's boyfriend, David, kept phoning her and telling her to get rid of the baby and not end up tied to David.

A week passed and Tina suddenly texted us one evening. Tina had somehow mixed up our number with that of an abortion provider. She said she wanted to book an abortion. I called her and explained to her who we she had contacted, she was astounded to have texted us when she thought it was the abortion centre, and she agreed to come back and talk again before having the abortion.

We met again and spoke and we spoke several more times on the phone afterwards. On one occasion she popped in to talk to us in person. Meanwhile David popped in to see us too - on his way from York to pay her a surprise visit. She was amazed that his visit to us should have coincided with hers which she hadn't told him about. She began to see God's hand in all this.

At one point she told me that her mum would never accept the baby. I asked would she like me to speak to her mum. She said yes, then no, then yes again - struggling to find the courage to let her mum, back home in Ghana, be told about her baby. Finally she said "Yes please tell. her", but then backed out and gave me her sister's number instead of her mum's. She said "Let her tell you why I shouldn't have David's baby. She hates him." But somehow, when I rang her sister I got through to her mum who was visiting her sister at that moment. Her mum explained who she was and was totally stunned by what I had revealed (since I had been thinking I was talking to Tina's sister). Now that her mum knew, I gently explained the whole situation, and although she was worried about her daughter, alone and pregnant in London, she said "I must help her to keep the baby!" 

That was the end of Tina considering abortion. Once Tina knew her mum - and dad - were going to accept her baby, she opened up to accept the baby herself. David supported her through the pregnancy and they managed to leave their past mistakes in the past. When the baby was born, Tina phoned us immediately after she gave birth to thank us all from the heart. 

Thank God for wrong numbers, and mysterious interventions.

You can help mothers like Tina and fathers like David and their children, by supporting our work with a donation and with your prayers.

Veronica Chose Life & Came out of Hiding:40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 24

When I first started working for Good Counsel, I was asked to meet with a young Irish girl, Veronica. She had come to England to get an abortion, she didn't think she could face telling her mum about her pregnancy. But once she got to the abortion centre, she realised that there was no way she could have the abortion. It felt so wrong. She tried to work out some plan with the baby's father, but he didn't want to be tied down and wasn't offering her any support if she wanted to keep the baby.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to go. She just knew she couldn't go home.

So - after some pro-lifers in Ireland put me in touch with her -she came to stay with me, and my parents. She was a really shy young woman, but found my parents, who were Irish like her own, easy to talk to. Particularly in the evening, when there was little else to do, she would often sit and chat with my mum. My dear mum was very kind and gentle, and sympathetic. One evening when they were chatting alone, Veronica asked Mum "What should I do?". "Well" Mum answered, "If you were my daughter, I would be really worried about you. I would really want you to tell me what had happened. I would really want to know." Veronica broke down and had a good cry. "Yes, I have to tell her." she replied. My mum promised to pray, she had already been praying for Veronica and her baby.

She went and phoned her straight away. She told her she was pregnant. Her mother, who only knew that her daughter had gone to London, but did not know why, had that sixth sense of a Mother - and feeling that something was wrong - had been terribly worried. Veronica's confession that she was pregnant shocked her, but almost immediately she felt a great sense of relief - finally she understood what the problem was. "Come home Veronica. Come home and have your baby." her mum said.

Veronica booked a ticket home the next day and was welcomed with great joy by her parents.

Some months later, my mum received a letter from Veronica's mum. She had had a Mass said for my mum. She wanted to thank her again and again for the help she had given Veronica. Veronica enclosed a note of thanks with her mum's letter, and a picture of her gorgeous baby son.

My mum was ecstatic. A little generosity of spirit, a little of her time, a kind word and she had helped to save a life and also to make the lives of Veronica and her son happier. - Clare

Fighting 4 Life: 40 Days of Celebrating Mums Choosing Life Day 23

One Mother we supported shared her testimony with those who attended our "Halfway Event" on Thursday 16th March. Here is her story.

I was in an extremely difficult situation with three children already, and the youngest one was a baby of 3 months old, when I discovered I was pregnant again. My partner was with me at the time and he was pressurising me into having an abortion. He told me “If you don’t terminate this pregnancy I will leave you”. I had to put up with this as well as being shocked about being pregnant so soon again.

So I went to Brixton abortion clinic for a consultation and they thought I was only carrying one baby when I arrived. They gave me a scan and told me there was more than one heartbeat. I was totally shocked. They told me they thought it was twins and I thought straight away at that moment I cannot go ahead with an abortion. 

They said they could not proceed because I could sue them because I was not mentally prepared to abort more than one baby so I had to have time to think about it and return for the abortion at a later date but I had already made up my mind that I was not going to return.

I went for my first antenatal scan at the hospital and they told me that I was expecting quadruplets. I nearly collapsed. I was very shocked.

My partner was unsupportive and I said to him that if I had an abortion I could even die from the procedure and then who would look after the children? I refused to go back because it was so wrong. I was confused. Then my partner packed his bags and left us.

I felt so alone and I was thinking who would be able to take care of my children? I dropped off my children to school. A nice teacher saw me and knew something was wrong and she asked me was I ok? Did I want to talk? So she took me into her office and I was crying and telling her my situation. The teacher gave me The Good Counsel Network’s details. I went for my appointment there with Iulia the counsellor. From the time I walked out I felt peace. They sent some volunteers to help me with my children. The Good Counsel then fought to get carers in to help me. Clare fought very hard to win the case with the Council to get the carers which I had for 3 years.  I also got financial help including vouchers, help with baby goods, clothes, shoes for the children. I still have ongoing help and support from The Good Counsel Network with weekly vouchers help and Christmas presents for the children. I am very grateful, they gave me lots of wonderful help and emotional help and support. They are always there for me.                            "Lydia"