Elizabeth’s Story

Newly married and wrapping up our college studies, we were surprised but excited about starting our family.

Armed with the health insurance plan we bought through our college, we called our local hospital to establish care with an OBGYN. When the doctor’s office informed me I would need to have my pregnancy confirmed by bloodwork before they could schedule my appointment, I thought, no problem. But that’s when the trouble began.

When I went to the university health center for the bloodwork, I learned that the policy the school offered students and that we were paying for monthly did not cover pregnancy care at all and would not cover the pregnancy test I needed.

“But don’t worry,” they told me, “It covers abortion in full.”

In short, the university refused to give me the pregnancy test I needed to get an OB appointment, and the OB refused to see me without the test. I was stuck in a never-ending loop with no clear way out. No matter how many times I told the provider that we wanted to keep our child and that under no circumstance would I seek an abortion, they continually counseled us to choose abortion. It was covered by the insurance, and since I was young, I would have plenty of time to have other children later on, they argued. I was appalled by their disregard for both the life of my child and my desire to protect his life.

A free clinic we contacted also tried to pressure us into an abortion, saying we were too young to have a child. They also refused to provide us a pregnancy test.

Frustrated and desperate for a solution, we began to pray. And that’s when we found Your Loving Choices (YLC), a local pregnancy care center where I found peace, assurance and respect for our decision to give birth to our son. I got the test I needed there and finally found staff who were committed to walking alongside me and supporting our decision. Finally, someone listened instead to what we wanted to do instead of telling us what we had to do.