Meet Jennifer Sawyer Demond and her family. Jennifer met Jason at a Bible study, became involved with him in a relationship that became physical, and learned that she was pregnant the first week of her college senior year. They considered abortion, but here is Jennifer’s story…
It seemed to both of us that the only option was abortion. I was facing the hardest courses of my college career, I was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, and I had no income. Jason had only a part-time retail job. We knew we couldn’t make it on our own.
I remember driving away after I talked to Jason. I felt completely numb. I couldn’t wrap my mind around having an abortion. When I called Jason that night, I told him I couldn’t go through with it. I knew that I would never be the same person if I had an abortion. I couldn’t imagine not meeting my first child. I would always wonder about him or her. Jason agreed with me, and he promised to stay with me through it. He went to every doctor’s appointment that he could and did everything he could for me through my pregnancy.
Then I told my parents. Having raised me in the church, they were hurt and disappointed. My mom remembered the Fayette Pregnancy Resource Center in Fayetteville. She hope that they might be able to counsel me, give me information on having a baby, and possibly help me with baby supplies.
The Resource Center helped me by enrolling me in the “Earn While You Learn” program. I came each week and watched videos on everything from fetal development to baby-proofing the house. I also learned how to clean a house and how to manage money. My mom came with me, and we both were able to learn so much from those videos.
For watching the videos, the Center gave me “Mommy Money” so I could go to the PRC clothes closet and buy everything from diapers and wipes to clothes for me and the baby. Since I didn’t have a job and Jason was barely paying his own bills, the things I earned from “Mommy Money” were extremely helpful. I don’t know how we could have bought things like diapers otherwise.
And I gained more from my visits to the resource center than simply supplies for my baby. I made friendships with the counselors. With counseling and support from a few elders at our church and counseling from the ladies at the Resource Center, I successfully made it through my pregnancy. Jason and I now have a beautiful boy named Joseph. He came just over two weeks before my graduation from college. With a lot of hard work, I did manage to graduate “on time” and with the honor of summa cum laude. When Joseph was seven months old, Jason and I were finally able to get married. Jason had stayed with me the whole time and he had finally found a better job.
Jason and I are so thankful to the Resource Center. Without it, I’m not sure how we could have provided for Joseph. The Fayette Pregnancy Resource Center has been such a blessing.