Betty’s Story

When I found out I was pregnant it was the worst.  I was hopeless and helpless. I didn’t have anybody to help me.  God cannot come down from Heaven to here, but he sends helpers to you, and The Good Counsel Network is the one that God sent to me, to keep my child, Isaiah.

Of all the support which Good Counsel offered, most important was the accommodation. . Money was obviously important, but a home, to keep a child and me was absolutely vital.

I couldn’t work at the time because I was suffering so badly from morning sickness. My boyfriend didn’t have a stable job, was living in a room in a flat and so it felt like the only solution was to have the abortion. I was thinking that I could have the abortion, go back to normal and then maybe go back to work again.

Basically, I felt like there was no other choice.

I went to my GP and I told him “I’m pregnant and I  want to have an abortion.” He referred me to a clinic which they call Marie Stopes clinic in Ealing I was 11 weeks’ pregnant.

When I went to the clinic I met someone outside. For me, it was definitely down to God that I missed a bus and was late because I may not have met Lorraine otherwise :

I was looking really quite haggard at this point because I was throwing up so much. Lorraine smiled and gave me a big hug when I went over and I thought ‘Ah, this person knows what I’m going through’

I told her that I had a problem with accommodation and that was why I was there for the abortion and after listening, she called the Good Counsel Network office and asked about accommodation. When she got off the phone she said it would be possible to offer a house to stay in.

When I heard that it may be possible to get help with accommodation I started to think about things.   I didn’t think about money and wasn’t even thinking about food, but all I wanted was a house.

I still went into the abortion clinic which was full of women and handed over my appointment letter. When it came to my turn I told her that I was not going to go through with it. She turned to me in anger! She gave me this angry expression: “Okay, we discharge you” and I  was like “Why is she angry?” So I went outside and spoke to Lorraine again. She gave me another hug and told me “Congratulations!” She called my boyfriend and told him the news and said that on Monday I would have a home ! I couldn’t believe it!

You know, the God that we serve is more than enough! The Good Counsel went well above my expectations. Not only did they give me a home to live in, but they also helped me apply for a UK visa. Now we have a home and a visa to stay in the country.

If somebody was not there to see me I could have gone through with  the abortion. Because I’d have gone into the clinic and there wouldn’t have been anyone there with another option Look at the child.  Sometimes I don’t want to talk about it in front of him if I think about it. If I din’t find somebody that time I could have done it.

Note: This testimony uses a pseudonym to preserve the identity of the woman involved.