{"id":235927,"date":"2020-12-09T15:46:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T21:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=235927"},"modified":"2020-12-08T23:41:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T05:41:40","slug":"mom-considering-abortion-purpose-baby-ultrasound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/mom-considering-abortion-purpose-baby-ultrasound\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom considering abortion found purpose when ‘she laid eyes on that little baby’ in an ultrasound"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Pregnancy Help News<\/a>)\u00a0\u201cI am consistently amazed by what happens when women are heard and seen,\u201d said Jemima Geisert, clinic operations manager at Options Pregnancy Resource Centers<\/a> of Albany, Oregon. Before her eyes, a young woman transformed from timid to tenacious. All it took was a someone to trust and a tiny heart beating on an ultrasound.<\/p>\n

Steady tears and indecision<\/h4>\n

Geisert served as the patient advocate in her organization\u2019s mobile clinic the day Andie* found the RV parked near her university campus in Corvallis.\u201cShe was our second patient of the day,\u201d Geisert said, \u201cand she came up crying from the start, slowly, just slow tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“Naomi,” the Options Pregnancy Resource Centers mobile clinic vehicle (Photo via Pregnancy Help News)<\/p><\/div>\n

Straining to hear Andie\u2019s voice through her mask, Geisert walked her through the intake process and guided her to the private bathroom for her pregnancy test. Later, while nurse Athena Jennings processed the test, Andie returned to the front room where she timidly chatted with Geisert.\u00a0First, only the basics came out. She was a student, in her mid-twenties. Family out of town. Involved in a relationship.<\/p>\n

Then as Geisert listened, Andie unveiled the reasons for her tears. She already had a young child. She would have had another, if shame during her first pregnancy hadn\u2019t driven her to obtain a secret abortion in her second. It was a secret she had kept hidden.\u00a0In that moment, Geisert knew Andie trusted her. \u201cIt is beautiful to be in the room with someone who is telling you things they have never told anyone,\u201d she said, tears rising in her own eyes. \u201cThey trust you enough to share. You are \u2018safe.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Andie\u2019s pregnancy test came back positive. But it was too early to perform an ultrasound for her. Geisert glanced again at Andie\u2019s intake form. Regarding her intentions for her pregnancy, she had written, \u201cUndecided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through her mask, Andie described her inner conflict. On one hand, she didn\u2019t want to go through another abortion. On the other, she dreaded telling her parents, both active in church leadership. At the same time, her partner wanted her to parent this child. Andie could see no way forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was very distraught,\u201d Geisert said. \u201cI could feel she was just tired of all this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Andie had opened the door to discussing faith issues, Geisert raised a crucial question. \u201cI asked, \u2018What does Jesus think of you?\u2019\u201d Geisert said. \u201cShe had a great answer. She knew. That was what her dad said to her the first time. She said, \u2018Thank you for reminding me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Andie left that day with an appointment for an ultrasound the following week. As she walked away, tears still trickled into her mask, and the answer on her form still read, \u201cUndecided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strength from a heartbeat<\/h4>\n

\u201cWhen she came in for an ultrasound, I expected her to be a little bit more upbeat,\u201d Geisert said. \u201cIt had been a few days, and I thought she would rally around it. But it was the exact same. She was crying, slow tears again. I sat down with her, asked how she was feeling. She had been really sick, so she was going through that, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since her last visit, Andie had confided in two trusted relatives. \u201cThat was pretty big for her,\u201d Geisert said. \u201cShe said they both supported her in parenting and said they would help her tell her parents. But she hadn\u2019t done that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the ultrasound room, our nurse asked her for a brief, updated health history, and asked if she had made a decision on what she was planning to do,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was still undecided. That surprised me; I thought she was heading toward parenting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andie\u2019s response confirmed Geisert\u2019s training never to assume she knew what women wanted. \u201cAssumptions are worth a whole lot of nothing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As the ultrasound took place, Andie remained quiet, asking only an occasional question. Then halfway through, Jennings asked her if she wanted pictures. Andie answered immediately, \u201cYes!\u201d<\/p>\n

With the scan behind her, Geisert asked Andie how she felt. \u201cShe looked at me and said, \u2018Better!\u2019\u201d Geisert said. \u201cI’d never heard her voice that strong. It was like I was talking to a whole different person. She had stopped crying, she was smiling at things we said, and her voice was strong and clear. There had been a transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time when Andie walked away, she left behind an exit survey that read, \u201cI wasn’t quite sure what I wanted. This gave me a sense of purpose.”<\/p>\n

For Geisert, Andie\u2019s visit left a lasting impression.\u00a0\u201cTo see her completely change into who she really is\u2014 I feel like I got to know her; that’s who she is,\u201d Geisert said, \u201cIt was like a fog had cleared. She laid eyes on that little baby and said, \u2018OK.\u2019”<\/p>\n