What Do I Do Now?
I looked at the confused mother holding the door of my car, preventing me (not deliberately) from getting into the car. You had to pity her. Here was a widow who had single handedly raised her only daughter, whose father had died when she was just three years old. That was some seventeen years back.
Standing a few feet behind us was Rosanne, her daughter with tears streaming down her face. She had come to me, a few days back, to ask for my help. She was in her final year of College and she had gotten pregnant. No big deal, you might say, but Rosanne was a committed Christian and committed Christians are not supposed to get pregnant out of wedlock.
Let me tell you what happened to Rosanne. She met a guy in College and she fell head over heels in love as many people do in College. The boy was also a committed Christian so everything was supposed to go on fine. Well, it didn’t. The boy believed, like Rosanne, that it was wrong to have sex before marriage but he was a normal healthy boy and boys like that have sexual urges!
Now, when a normal boy has sexual urges and he has a girl friend, well, he’s going to want to express himself sexually. Rosanne didn’t feel that way but since she was in love, she was sympathetic. Since they were both against sex before marriage however, they reached a compromise. They would do everything else, heavy petting and getting naked but they drew the line. No sex, period.
As it often happens however, the line they drew was tested to the fullest every time they were alone together. Slowly but surely, the boundary shifted until one faithful day, the inevitable happened. The two of them were devastated. According to Rosanne they had never intended for it to happen. It had taken them a whole year.
Rosanne was more repentant. Her boyfriend soon wanted to fool around again but not Rosanne. She knew what was at stake. She had made a mistake and for her, it was once beaten, twice shy. She threatened to break off the relationship. Her boyfriend called her bluff and they broke up, just like that.
Rosanne couldn’t believe it. She had trusted him with everything. Why else would she have given herself to him. Could his declarations of love have been bare falsehoods?
She thanked her stars that he had shown his true colours before she married him. It was tough but she had to move on with her life.
That was before she discovered that she was pregnant. It took her three weeks to come to me for help. I called her boyfriend and had a chat with him. Rosanne hadn’t told him she was pregnant. She was there when I told him. The boy denied having sex with Rosanne! I can’t describe the look on Rosanne’s face. I had known her for years and I knew she wasn’t lying. I had to hold her or she would have collapsed on the floor. As for the boy, he looked so unconcerned that I felt like giving him a slap across his lying lips.
But it wasn’t really his fault was it? Rosanne should have realized that she had more to lose. Sadly, many girls also only find out that they have more to lose when it’s too late!
Rosanne’s mother’s dilemma was; should Rosanne get an abortion, have the baby and give the baby up for adoption or bring up the child herself.
Rosanne would have to quit school and get a job for the last option to be possible. Her mother’s income simply couldn’t handle a baby’s financial needs.
What is Rosanne to do?