We all want freedom, choices, rights: It’s the American way. But the term “Pro-Choice,” is somewhat of a misnomer, when it’s referring to your right to terminate your pregnancy through abortion; it actually limits the choices you get to make regarding your child’s life. By choosing instead to give your child the freedom to live, you can open the door to virtually limitless collection of choices, none of which hold the finality that comes with the choice to abort your baby.
1. Giving Birth
If you opt not to abort your baby, the alternative is to give birth. Will you choose natural childbirth? If so, there are many options available, including Lamaze, hypnosis, and water births. Will you have a hospital birth, assisted by only mainstream medical professionals, or will you employ a doula or have a friend or relative serve as your birthing coach? Would you prefer a midwife-assisted home birth or a birth center setting?
Rather than natural childbirth, maybe you’ve already decided on an epidural to help numb the pain and pressure that comes along with baby’s entrance into the world. Perhaps you’d like to be induced, so you can schedule the birth or have the baby on a certain day. Some hospitals also allow elective C-sections. Following the baby’s birth, some mothers who undergo non-surgical births wish to stay in the hospital as long as possible, while others want to leave within a day or so. Some like having visitors, and others prefer their privacy. What kind of birth mom are you?
2. Considering Adoption or Foster Care
At any point after the baby’s birth, adoption and foster care are choices open to you. Especially if the pregnancy was unplanned, you may feel ill equipped for caring for an infant or raising a child. Whether the issues are emotional, financial, or social, “giving up a child” does not have to be a forever choice. Foster care offers temporary but full-time caregivers for a child without the parents having to relinquish their parental rights. Adoption is more permanent, but today’s open adoptions allow for continual contact between biological parents and their children who have been placed in adoptive families of their choosing.
3. Parenting Your Child
Those who care for their own children possess the ultimate collection of choices. Ranging from the necessary feeding and diapering choices to the more frivolous, like nursery themes and clothing brands, parents have the luxury of many choices. Today’s styles mean that diaper bags don’t have to be decorated in pastels or cartoons, and neither do your child’s stroller or other baby gear. If you prefer the brightly colored options, though, you can still find them: Along with the rest of parenting, the choice is yours. Before baby’s first birthday, you’ll have too many choices to consider even thinking about the many ahead: education, dating, curfews.
So if you really want to be able to make choices, don’t stop at just one. Make that first choice a starting point for many, many more. Someday you’ll enjoy watching your child make his or her own choices, too.
Womens Center of Dayton, Ohio
The Women’s Center-Dayton is a pregnancy resource center that offers support and solutions for unexpected pregnancies. Women’s Center-Dayton provides women with free pregnancy tests, ultrasound scans, consulting on pregnancy decisions, and a material assistance program. To contact the Women’s Center-Dayton call (937) 228-2222 or email info@womenscenterohio.com. You can schedule an appointment by phone or online by visiting our website www.womenscenterohio.com.
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