A high school senior just weeks away from graduation, Jana was on top of the world. She had just been accepted into her dream college and had one more carefree summer before packing up and leaving for her new adventure.
Everything was on track. That is, until Jana began to suspect that maybe, just maybe, her path had suddenly changed directions.
Jana’s friend bought her a pregnancy test, and the pair took it to her friend's house, so that Jana’s parents wouldn't suspect anything was up. The strategy had a short shelf life, however, as the pregnancy test showed positive… she was pregnant.
Even though she felt pressured to abort her baby, Jana was terrified that some day she would regret it.
Jana cried all afternoon and well into the night. Finally, in desperation, she typed in"abortion stories" to her search engine, hoping to find stories of post-abortion women who had gone on to live happy, fulfilled lives.
What she found was StandUpGirl.com. Jana read story after story about young women just like her who had submitted to an abortion and later shared their experience on the online forum. Story after story was shared as encouragement to not make the same mistake as the writer.
Moved by what she read, Jana clicked a box on the sidebar, opening up a live chat program.
The chat link connected Jana to an Option Line® consultant, who answered her immediately. Jana poured out her heart, sharing her fears, and what she'd read on StandUpGirl. She shared that, while she wanted to protect and care for her baby, she felt it would be selfish to bring a child into the world without a good job, house, or stability.
On the other end of the live chat, the Option Line consultant helped Jana understand that giving her child life was the most unselfish thing she could do. She explained to Jana that, in addition to single parenting or married parenting, Jana could also choose to parent through adoption, entrusting her child into the hands of an adoptive family.
She also let Jana know that help was available to her. A pregnancy center would be able to work with her for everything from diapers and wipes to maternity clothes and community referrals for help with food and medical care.
As the early morning conversation came to a close, Jana agreed to visit a center in her area, and told the Option Line consultant she finally felt ready to sleep, knowing that a brighter day lay ahead.
While Heartbeat’s Option Line® gains most of its traffic from its own advertising and web presence, the 24-7 pregnancy helpline also partners with several national organizations like StandUpGirl.com and TeenBreaks.com to reach over 1,000 contacts per month—just like Jana—via live chat and text.
