100% Matched Women Chose Life

Posted on November 7, 2017 by Kathy Widenhouse

For You From The Word

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)

For You To Think About

pregnant women chose life with friendIn 2009, 100% of the women who were matched with a Birthmothers Friend chose life.

That stands in stark contrast to these national statistics:

  • Half of unplanned pregnancies in America end in abortion
  • 24% of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriage) end in abortion

God created us to be in healthy relationships. One way He loves us is through others.

That’s why it’s clear: women in crisis need a Friend. One-on-one support during an unplanned pregnancy saves lives and introduces more women to the adoption option.

For You To Pray

Merciful Father,
Help more pregnant women be matched one-on-one with a Birthmothers Friend for support. Lead them to choose life and adoption where appropriate.
Amen.

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7 Times As Many Families Who Want to Adopt As Babies Lost To Abortion

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Twisk

For You From The Word

I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light. (Acts 26:17-18)

For You To Think About

sad couple who wants to adoptEvery year, 1,512,000 American pregnancies end in abortion.

Yes, that’s one-and-a-half million.

At the same time, an estimated 10,000,000 American couples would attempt to adopt a child domestically if they felt they had a realistic opportunity to do so.

Yes, that’s ten million.

The math isn’t hard. That’s nearly seven times as many adoptive families for every child lost to abortion.

Women need to know there’s another way and another choice. You can help tell them.

For You To Pray

Merciful Father,

Help me present the adoption option to women who face an unplanned pregnancy.  Give me words and compassion to touch hearts.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

More About Adoption

Letter to a Pregnant Woman: Why Not Choose Adoption Instead of Abortion?

Surprising Facts About Adoption

How to Support Women Who May Choose Adoption

 

 

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Surprising Facts About Adoption

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Twisk

For You From The Word

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.(Deuteronomy 31:6)

For You To Think About

African American baby sucking fingerInternational adoptions aren’t the norm. Fewer than 50,000 children find families through inter-country adoption each year.

Americans want to adopt. An estimated 10 million American couples would attempt to adopt a child domestically if they felt they had a realistic opportunity to do so.

American adoption numbers remain constant. Since 1987, the number of adoptions annually in the U.S. has remained relatively constant, ranging from 118,000 to 127,000.

Aborted children can’t be adopted. Every year, 1,362,545 American babies are lost to abortion … children who could have been born and placed in loving, adoptive homes.

Pregnant women need support to make a courageous choice.

For You To Pray

Merciful Father,
Help pregnant women choose life and allow them to consider the adoption option when appropriate.
In Jesus name, Amen.

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Letter to A Pregnant Woman: Instead of Abortion, Why Not Choose Adoption Instead?

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Twisk

For You From The Word

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:13-14)

For You To Think About

From a genuine letter to a friend considering abortion

woman with pencil in mouthMy dear friend,

There is much I don’t know. But I know two things for certain –

1. God has a purpose for every event in our lives
2. God has a purpose for the child you carry

You may fear the outcome of your pregnancy. You may not think you will be able to care for this precious life. But maybe the purpose for your pregnancy is to bring you closer to God. Maybe the purpose for your child is to become someone’s son or daughter – and grow into a doctor, construction worker, business owner, lawyer, teacher or pastor.

You may think abortion is an easy fix. But that fix could thwart the powerful purpose for this child. Why not choose adoption instead?

Your child has a purpose.  The choice for it to be fulfilled is in your hands.

This is what God wants you to know before you have an abortion:
I created your child’s inmost being; I knit your child together in your womb. Your child is fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14).

The life of a human being is worth every effort to allow it to be born.

For You To Pray

Oh God our Creator,
Move in the life of this pregnant women, and others like her, to not choose the easy way. Let her be a part of Your incredible plan – and choose life.
Amen.

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Understanding the 3 Types of Adoption

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Kathy Widenhouse

For You From The Word

God sets the lonely in families. (Psalm 68:6)

For You To Think About

adoption: baby in red shirtDifferent types of adoption are distinguished by the level of contact between the birth parents, adoptive parents, and the child. November is National Adoption Awareness Month – a good time to understand the differences.

Open adoption allows for some level of direct contact between birth parents, adoptive parents, and the child. Typically, the birth mom writes an adoption plan for her child which includes choosing the adoptive parents and exchanging letters, pictures, and perhaps visits with her child. Birth parents and adoptive parents can have direct contact before and after the adoption.

Semi-open adoption (or “mediated adoption”) is a variation of open adoption. Prior to placement, the birth parents and pre-adoptive parents exchange mostly non-identifying information. Once the child is placed in the adoptive home, the adopted child may have contact with the birth family that involves pictures, letters, or other types of communications sent through the adoption agency or the attorney who assisted with the placement.

Closed adoption (“confidential adoption,” “traditional adoption”) allows for no direct contact between birth parents, adoptive parents, and the child. The birth mom (or birth parents) may be given some non-identifying information about the adoptive parents, such as their ages and occupations. Adoptive parents are given information that will help them take care of the child, such as medical or family history. Specific information, including names and addresses, are not revealed to either party.

For You To Pray

Father to the fatherless,
Speak to the hearts of women who are considering adoption. Help them choose wisely between open, semi-open, and closed adoption. Place each adopted child in the family that is just right for him.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

More about Adoption

Do You Believe This Popular Myth About Adoption?

The Culture Doesn’t “Get” Adoption, But We Can Still Embrace It

What Is the Adoption Triangle?

 

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If Our Culture Doesn’t “Get” Adoption, Believers Can Still Embrace It

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Twisk

For You From The Word

We speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age. (1 Corinthians 2:6)

For You To Think About

siblingsIt is one thing when the culture doesn’t “get” adoption, says Dr. Russell D. Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Daily we’re saturated with a message of survival, including the survival of our genetic material, which drives families to have biological families.

“But when those who follow Christ think the same way, we betray that we miss something crucial about our own salvation,” says Dr. Moore.  “We believe Jesus in heavenly things — our adoption in Christ. So we follow him in earthly things — the adoption of children.”

Embracing adoption, whether we adopt or whether we help others adopt, is a practical living out of our faith. Even though our culture doesn’t “get” or “understand” adoption, the Christian church can see adoption as part of the Great Commission mandate.

Dr. Moore and his wife have two adopted sons.

For You To Pray

Father of the fatherless,

Touch our hearts. Help us to respond to our adoption into Your Kingdom with a passion to see helpless children adopted by earthly families. Amen.

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What’s the “Adoption Triangle”?

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Kathy Widenhouse

For You From The Word

Look after orphans. (James 1:27)

For You To Think About

Adoption TriadAccording to Bethany Christian Services, the nation’s largest adoption agency, U.S. adoption placements are up 26%.

One reason cited for the upturn: the new, growing movement in American churches that challenges Christians to consider adoption.

Churches are developing a variety of ministries to serve all three members of the adoption triangle: birth parents, the child, and adoptive families. (Birthmothers, for instance, serves birth moms and birth dads.)

Does your church have a ministry to “look after orphans” and their parents (James 1:27) – the vulnerable and marginalized in the adoption triangle? Consider developing a Birthmothers ministry or other movement in your congregation.

For You To Pray

Heavenly Father,
Move hearts in American churches to build a ministry to those in the adoption triangle – birth parents, children, and adoptive families.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Do You Believe This Popular Myth about Adoption?

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Kathy Widenhouse

For You From The Word

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)

For You To Think About

woman in hatA recent episode of Glee, a popular American musical-drama television series about a high school show choir, may be good drama but perpetuates a harmful myth about adoption.

The installment features a cheerleader who placed her child for adoption a year earlier. She vows to take back the baby from its adoptive mother.

The Myth: a legally-adopted child can be “taken back” by its birth parent. (This happens only in extremely rare instances.)
The Truth: a finalized adoption makes a child the legal member of member of the adoptive couple, just as if he or she had been biologically born into the family.

Birth parents who place their children for adoption undergo a very careful, often sacrificial decision process. They courageously choose what they believe to be in the best interest of the child. Grief is nearly always part of that process.

To depict a birth parent’s enormous decision as one that can be flippantly reversed is not only a falsehood. It also negates the dignity and respect that birth parents so richly deserve.

For You To Pray

Lord of life,
Let the truth about adoption be known – that birth parents make courageous and sacrificial decisions in the best interests of their children. Help birth parents experience dignity and respect.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Stories for Friends

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Kathy Widenhouse

Experience the power of one-on-one ministry when you read these inspiring stories from our Birthmothers Friends.

Young Mother Kissing InfantAdoption

Adoption: “I presented adoption as thoroughly as I could”

Adoption: “I was a sounding board”

Adoption: Birthmothers provides the missing link

Becoming a Friend

Becoming a Friend: “People Supported Me and I Want to Give Back”

Choosing Life

Choosing Life: My birth mom was abortion-minded
Choosing Life: My birth mom needed an advocate

Empowering Women

Empowering Women: God put us here for each other

Practical Help

Practical Help: A birth mom and family in need

Pregnancy & Childbirth

Pregnancy & Childbirth: Birth mom taught me about life

Pregnancy & Rape

Pregnancy & Rape: “Encouragement Gave This Woman Her Voice”

Service

Service: First-timer
Service: Friend by mail
Service: Connecting with social services
Service: Giving and receiving

Sharing Faith

Sharing faith: “A Friend is a tangible reminder of God”
Sharing faith: A rewarding journey for a Friend

Spiritual Parenting

Spiritual parenting: I’m a special kind of parent

Teen Birth Moms

Teen Birth Moms: Grandma befriends pregnant teenager

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The Tiny Risk That Saves a Life: What a Trade-Off!

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Kathy Widenhouse

For You From The Word

The midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. (Exodus 1:17)

For You To Think About

woman eyeImagine delivering a Hebrew baby in ancient Egypt: no hospitals, no doctors, no medications, no sterilized linens, no medical instruments. A woman might go into labor while building bricks or in the hot sun or in the damp darkness of a dirt hovel late at night. Even more frightening, the king had commanded that newborn boys be killed. Terrified mothers feared losing their babies not only to childbirth complications but to the threat of oppression.

Thankfully, the Hebrew midwives feared God more than the king. They risked their own lives by refusing to kill any baby. The midwives demonstrated enormous courage.

Today, pregnant women face different kinds of fears. Forced abortions can end the life of their child. Partners or family members threaten rejection. Financial constraints prohibit medical care or quality of life after delivery.

God rarely asks us to go to that extreme faced by the ancient Hebrew midwives – to risk our lives to support one of these women. We face a different kind of risk: the risk of discomfort.

But think of the outcome. In taking the risk to walk with a hurting pregnant woman, you can play a key role in helping her to choose life and save her baby.

For You To Pray

Loving Father,
Thank You for the example You have given us in the ancient Hebrew midwives. Help me stretch myself. Move my heart to move from my own comfort to have compassion for a pregnant woman and courage to support her.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

More about Taking Risks

Loneliness Puts a Pregnant Woman and Her Baby at Risk

Women Who Face an Unplanned Pregnancy Face these 3 Health Risks

18 Abortion Risks Explained

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