Lorraine Gariboldi, Regional Coordinator

I was a teenager, not married, and pregnant before abortion was legal.  Although there was pressure upon me to have an abortion, because it was not legal, I carried my baby to term.  The only option I was offered was to go to Puerto Rico, to some back alley abortionist and have any abortion.  The thought of this turned my stomach and I simply said, "No way."
 
My father died when I was seven leaving my mother a widow with four children.  My mother went to work and my twelve year old sister raised us.  My mother never remarried.
 
When I was nineteen years old and five months pregnant, I told my mother I was going away for a few months for training.  At the time, I worked for the NY Telephone Company.  She said to me, "Do you think I don't know that you are pregnant?  If you have any ideas about placing my grandchild up for adoption, forget about that because I discussed this with your sister and she is willing to adopt this baby."  I cried.  She cried.  We embraced.  I said I was sorry and that I did not want to hurt her and that I had made plans to go into a home called: Guardian Home for Unwed Mothers in Brooklyn, NY.  However, my mother said not to worry the family would support me throughout the pregnancy.
 
The father of the baby was a married man.  In those days, there was no such thing as divorce in the State of NY.  When our son was 18 months old, the laws had changed and he flew to Juarez Mexico and got a divorce.  We married shortly thereafter. 
 
I thank God that abortion was not legal at the time.  I don't know what I would have done.  I do know 46 years ago we did not have sonograms and I was told it was just a blob of cells.  I can't imagine what life would be like without my precious son and his three children.  I realize now, that if I had aborted my son 46 years ago, I would have aborted my grandchildren and their children as well - all future generations to come.
 
Today I work in a pregnancy care center.  We help pregnant women.  We give pregnant women the facts on fetal development, abortion risks, and the support services available to them if they are pregnant and choose to carry their baby to term.  Many times I have shared my own story and changed a heart for life.  I believe this is why I do the work I do.  God took my experience, of an unplanned pregnancy, and has turned it around for his glory.